Getting Unhitched
by plot-less
Summary: [COMPLETE!]Alanna has returned from the convent (although most definately not as a proper lady) and wreaks havoc at the castle while she tries to avoid the marriage trap and hide her fighting skills...but things are about to get a little crazy
1. Default Chapter

GETTING UNHITCHED 

  
{A/N Hi guys. This message is for those of you who read the first version of my story. If this is the first time you've come across this fic just skip all this amd get to the good (well, I hope it's good) stuff. To the rest of you, I know, I know, it's been an OVER A YEAR since I last posted. I fully deserve to have rotten fruit thrown at me, to be flamed(although I would prefer it if you didn't) and banned from writing fanfic ever again. All I can do is say I'm sorry and offer an explanation.  
I started this story two years ago. At the time my writing style was completely different and I actually started this story without any plot in mind (hence the nick). I have to say that I am my own worst critic. I began to hate the story I had written, the bad spelling, inconsistency and lack of direction embarrassed me. So although I did made many attempts to finish it the words wouldn't come. Eventually I gave up on it and moved on to other things. But even after a year I've still been getting a few reviews so there are obviously some people out there reading. So I sat down and revised the story. The first few chapters are pretty much the same but I would like to think that the later chapters become more mature and better written.   
If you have read this before, THERE ARE CHANGES, especially in later chapters, so I would advise reading again.   
It is COMPLETE, and saved on my hard drive so you don't have to worry about me not writing for another year. Unless my computer breaks down, I will be posting a chapter a time for the next 12 weeks.   
  
This is for everyone who ever reviwed or even read and appreciated silently, but _ especially _ for those of you who reveiwed in the last few months reminding me that this story had not dissappeared into fanfic hell like I'd assumed.   
  
I'd like to state again for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me.   
This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.   
e-mail : terra786@hotmail.com   
extra chapters up on webpage, see profile for address, I can't put it here without creating errors on the page for some reason   
  
Chapter1 

The Head Priestess walked into the main room at the convent to find two priestesses frantically trying to untangle bats from their hair.   
"What happened here, how did those…those disgusting creatures get into your hair?" she asked them.   
"How do you think?" the priestess closest to her answered.   
"Calisto and Alanna!" the other priestess said in a truly horrified voice.   
"I should have known," the Head Priestess sighed. "Well, we won't be suffering much longer, Calisto and Alanna are leaving for the Palace soon."   
"Thank the goddess!" the priestess by the door cried happily.   
"You have to feel sorry for the poor people at the Palace though," the other priestess remarked shaking her head sadly. All the priestesses sighed glad that the nightmares, known as Calisto and Alanna, that had plagued them for the last six years were finally gone. 

***

Alanna, who was supposed to be practicing her sewing, was sitting in her room cleaning the latest addition to her weapons collection when Calisto came bursting into the room and flopped down on the bed.   
"Have you heard the wonderful news?" she said her voice laced with sarcasm. "We finally get to leave this annoying, dull, dreadful prison we've been forced to live in all these years and go to the Palace to swoon over all the handsome men!"   
  
"Excellent, we can get married to a man we don't even know and have hundreds of children. I can hardly wait!" Alanna said just as sarcastically as Calisto. They both sighed and put their heads in their hands. Suddenly Calisto jumped up of the bed.   
"I've got it!" she shouted excitedly.   
"Got what? Brain damage?" Alanna asked glumly.   
"No, I've got a plan," Calisto said. She was practically jumping up and down with excitement. "Let's make a pact to do the best we can to stop each other from getting married. Agreed?"   
"Agreed." Alanna said, she'd do anything to stop herself from getting married even trust one of Calisto's notorious master plans. 

***

Alanna stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had the same long red hair that fell down her back, the priestesses had made her grow it, and strange violet eyes but she didn't feel like she was looking at herself. It was probably the green ball gown she was wearing that made her look and feel different. She had worn ball gowns before. The priestesses had made them practice how to dance, sit and walk in them. It was all rather annoying. Just so they could go to balls and swoon over all the men at court. Well she wasn't going to flirt with all the men and compliment them on how good they were at fighting because she knew she was just as good as them. But that wasn't the problem, the problem was she didn't want to go to the stupid ball or wear this uncomfortable ball gown. 

While she sometimes had to wear ball gowns at the convent, the rest of the time she could wear whatever she wanted. She had gotten her friend Calisto to sew her dresses with high slits so she could move properly; she still couldn't walk in a ball gown after six years. At the Palace she was forced to wear these stupid fancy dresses all the time and she was probably going to go crazy. She just didn't know who she was anymore. She turned away from the mirror resignedly. The only reason she was going to the ball was to see Thom her twin brother and that was it. She slipped her feet into her slippers and left her room heading for the huge palace ballroom. She arrived there and looked around the vast room for her brother. She spotted him and a group of his friends talking to a red haired Lady about her height and approached them. When she reached Thom and his friends they stared at her open mouthed. 

"What?" she asked raising her eyebrows questioningly.   
The Lady they had been talking to turned and Alanna stared at a mirror image of herself in shock before she realized who it was and grinned. The other Lady grinned too as Alanna threw her arms around her best friend and they hugged each other fiercely. They drew apart and found Thom and his friend staring at them.   
"I don't seem to remember having two twin sisters." Thom said looking confused.   
"That's probably 'cause you don't." Alanna told her twin brother and whacked him on the head, "I can't believe you can't tell the difference between me and an impostor, Thom!"   
At that, the Lady's face was covered by a gold mist and when the mist disappeared her face was transformed into that of a beautiful blonde Lady with tawny eyes.   
"I guess we have to do the introductions all over again," said the other Lady with a look of dismay. 

Alanna turned to her brother and his friends, "This is Calisto and I'm the real Alanna. We met at the convent and we've been partners in crime since we first met."   
"Yes, we have a mutually advantages relationship, Alanna borrows all the magical objects I need from the sisters' storerooms and I help her sneak out to meet…ow!" she stopped suddenly.   
"Oh, I'm sorry!" said Alanna angelically. " Was that your foot?"   
"Yes, it was," Calisto said through gritted teeth.   
"Please continue, I'd like very much to know who Alanna has been sneaking out to meet," inquired Thom looking very curious.   
Before Calisto could answer Alanna interrupted her saying, "I used to visit the horses at the stables in the town. There was a dark and handsome stallion that I liked to visit."   
"He's dark and handsome alright!" Calisto put in grinning mischievously but her grin changed into a scowl. "Ouch!"   
"Was that the other foot? I'm such a klutz," Alanna said innocently. 

Thom looked questioningly at his sister but Calisto saved her friend before she had to answer some very embarrassing questions.   
"We still haven't finished the introductions why don't you introduce us to your friends, Thom," said Calisto.   
"Fine," Thom said still looking at Alanna weirdly. "This is Prince Jonathan of Conte," he said pointing to a black haired, blue-eyed man standing just behind him. Alanna and Calisto both simultaneously lifted their skirts and bowed perfectly but Alanna spoiled it. Looking up at Thom she said, "See we did learn something between setting fire to the priestesses rooms and dyeing their hair blue," Alanna and Calisto burst into laughter. When they had regained the little self control they had Thom went on. 

"This-" he said pointing to a tall broad shouldered man on the princes right. "- is Raoul and lastly we have Gary the Prince's cousin," he pointed to the man on the princes left. Alanna and Calisto nodded to both men in acknowledgement. Calisto kept unusually quiet during the conversation that began about the best horse in the King's stable, a thoughtful look on her face. 

"Alanna didn't you say that the only person who would be able to tell us apart would be your brother because you were so close," Calisto said during pause in the conversation.   
"I guess I was wrong." Alanna said looking at her brother accusingly.   
Thom looked at them thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it there were some flaws," he said. "There were five freckles on your face and Alanna only has four and the one below your eye was a bit too high."   
"What?" Calisto shouted. "This spell is flawless! Who are you to question my spells?"   
"I'm a person who has the gift and I've read all about spells that change your appearance," Thom said indignantly.   
"I can see why you'd read up on those spells," Calisto said looking him over.   
"Should we leave you two alone?" Alanna asked before Thom could answer back.   
"Maybe you should get a room?" she suggested and grinned at their horrified expressions. Jonathan, Gary and Raoul snickered then they seemed to remember that she was a Lady because they stopped and stared at her in shock which made her grin even more.   
"What?" Thom and Calisto bellowed. "Never!" they both turned and stormed of in different directions. 

Alanna turned to Thom's friends. "I should go after her before she sets fire to my room or something equally awful. She has a terrible temper. Hope I see you again," with that she turned and left in the direction Calisto had gone. Alanna found Calisto sulking on a bench in the courtyard and sat down next to her. 

"Sorry about what I said in there," she said solemnly but that only earned her a glare.   
"Why don't we go spell the practice tools in the practice yard?" she added hoping that getting up to mischief would improve her friend's mood. Calisto smiled, "Wonderful idea," she said cheerfully. "Come on." 

They walked back to their room, changed into black breeches and shirts and snuck down to the practice fields.   
"So what are we going to do?" Calisto asked.   
Alanna leaned over and whispered in her ear and they both got to work on their spells giggling at intervals.   
"Finished!" they both said at the same time. 

"Lets go before someone sees us," Alanna said turning and walking back to their rooms. Calisto followed.   
"I can't wait to see their faces tomorrow," Calisto said and when they were safely back in Alanna's room.   
"We can ask Thom to let us watch him practice," Alanna suggested changing into her nightdress.   
"I'll see you tomorrow," Calisto said walking to the door that separated Alanna's room from hers.   
"Goodnight," Alanna said and watched Calisto go into her room before climbing into the huge bed that took up most of the room.   
Tomorrow was sure to be interesting. 

***

{A/N Further chapters are up on my webpage www.angelfire.com/fang/fuzzyelf 


	2. chapter 2

GETTING UNHITCHED 

{A/N I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me.   
This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless. }   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.   
e-mail : terra786@hotmail.com 

  
  
Chapter 2 

Alanna got up before dawn ready to do some warm up exercises and practice some fighting techniques. She had just finished doing sit-ups and was about to start on her push-ups when she saw Calisto sitting cross legged on the edge of the bed.   
"What are you doing up? How long have you been here?" Alanna asked sitting up and crossing here legs.   
"I couldn't sleep, too excited about today I guess." Calisto answered. "I've been here quite a while, but I didn't want to disturb you."   
"Okay," Alanna said still staring at her suspiciously.   
"You can go on doing your exercises I'm not going do anything to you while your back is turned," Calisto said trying to look shocked and hurt that her best friend could even think that. Alanna ignored her and started to do push-ups. She was just about to start some very complicated exercises when there was a knock on the door. Alanna stopped what she was doing and looked at Calisto who was still sitting on the bed not uttering a word, it was unnerving.   
"Go get the door," Alanna said and as Calisto got up to go to the door she added, "And if it's for me tell them I'm busy." 

As Alanna started her exercises she heard the door open. She had done these exercises a million times before and with only half her concentration on her movements she began listening to the conversation outside.   
"Hello," Calisto said. Alanna wondered who it was.   
"Can I speak with Alanna?" a grumpy voice Alanna recognized as Thom's asked.   
"No," Calisto said brightly.   
"Why?" Thom's voice sounded really irritated.   
"She's busy," Calisto answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. 

Just as she attempted a difficult roundhouse kick Alanna had to stifle a giggle as she imagined the look on Thom's face. She lost her concentration and there was a thud as she hit the floor. Alanna moaned in pain as she stood up.   
"What was that?" Thom asked with his usual curiosity. "What's my sister doing in there?"   
"Well…um…she's… er…" Calisto stalled knowing that Alanna did not want anyone know about her fighting skills.   
"She's moaning over the loss of her…" Calisto started but Alanna interrupted her before she could finish her sentence by wrenching the door open and pushing Calisto aside.   
"Over the loss of that stallion I told you about yesterday." Alanna said as she glared at Calisto. Before Calisto could do or say anything else she turned back to Thom and asked, "Why did you come to my room?"   
"We just came to ask you to breakfast…" Thom stopped and his eyes widened as he asked in a shocked voice, "What are you wearing?"   
Alanna looked down at herself and gulped. She was still dressed in the tight-fitting clothes she wore to practice, which allowed for easy movement. Her eyes moved from her brother's appalled face to the faces of his friends who stood behind him, but they didn't look that unhappy. She threw back her head determined not to start blushing and answered sarcastically, "Clothes" and as an afterthought she added, " Yes, we'll come with you to breakfast, wait while I change." 

She pulled Calisto into the room and slammed the door. The boys now stopped smiling and Gary let out a disgusted noise, they were all starving and everyone new how long ladies took to change. Five minutes later Alanna and Calisto breezed past them and strode down the corridor. Alanna turned around and asked, "By the way, do you mind if we come and watch you practice." The boys too stunned at the girls quick reappearance from their room did not notice the mischievous look Alanna and Calisto exchanged. 

***

Alanna and Calisto sat on a grassy mound watching the knights and squires fencing and wrestling. Calisto who was quite bored was fiddling with her hair as Alanna analysed the men's moves. Alanna nudged Calisto as she saw Gary, Raoul, Jonathan and Thom moving towards the Archery area. The girls got up and moved closer, this was going to be very interesting thought Alanna as she leaned against the fence. As the boys stepped forward and raised their bows a voice was heard saying, "Please, please have mercy! Don't kill me! I have little dust bunnies at home!" It seemed to be coming from the first practice dummy.   
A second voice cut in shouting, "Ah, quit your jabbering. These scrawny boys couldn't even pull the drawstring properly, let alone hit an unmoving target."   
Another even louder voice started shrieking, "Murder! Murder! You can't kill me! I'm too young to die! Somebody save me! H-E-L-P!" A crowd had started gathering, attracted by the wails and moans. 

  
"Quit whining and take it like a dummy!" the second voice commanded.   
The fourth dummy began talking over the other three voices in superior tones, "All of you be quiet. They can't touch us. Its abuse! I'll take them to court, I'll call the king!"   
The second dummy began challenging Thom to fire at him, "Come on. What are you afraid of, you scaredy cat? Momma's boy!" Thom's face had become red and when he heard some stifled laughter in the crowd it was too much, he drew back the arrow and fired. It hit the dummy in the chest and it looked downwards disbelievingly, "He got me, I can't believe he got me. Look there…it's a white light," he said softly and his voice along with all the others faded. By this time Alanna and Calisto could control themselves no longer and where leaning against the fence laughing helplessly and gasping for breath. 

"That was your best idea yet, Alanna," Calisto got out between giggles. "You're brilliant."   
Alanna looked up and saw Thom and the other squires and knights looking down at them in disbelief. Thom looked ready to kill. Alanna turned to Calisto who was still laughing and had not noticed the boys staring at them.   
"Quick, run!" she hissed at her friend and they both began running towards the castle.   
"Stop!" Thom shouted furiously.   
Alanna shouted over her shoulder as they ran of "Sorry, can't talk now, things to do, places to be." 

***

Alanna was trying to walk down a torch-lit passage, in search of the boys. She didn't seem to be succeeding, perhaps because she was dragging Calisto behind her. Her friend was trying to escape from her grasp, begging her to go back to their room and stay there for the rest of their lives or at least until the boys forgot about the incident earlier. Alanna was firm, she wasn't going to hide away from her brother and a few squires. What could they do to her? She rounded a corner and saw them standing at the end of the passage talking to a Lady. She appeared to be standing quite close to the boys, particularly Jonathan. The Lady was wearing a very low cut dress and was leaning towards him smiling in what she obviously thought was a flirtatious manner. Alanna bit on her tongue to stop herself from laughing. Thom looked up when he heard her come stalking down the passage, head held high, pulling Calisto behind her. Alanna stopped right in front of them keeping a firm hand on Calisto's arm in case she decided to run away. She cleared her throat and Gary, Raoul and Jonathan turned to look at them too. Alanna saw that when Jonathan turned to face them, the lady immediately put her hand on his shoulder and started batting her eyelashes. 

Alanna looked at her faking concern. "Are you alright?" she asked her, the lady looked puzzled. "What I mean is, is there something in your eye?"   
"She's batting her eyelashes Alanna," Calisto hissed audibly at Alanna.   
Alanna raised an eyebrow at her, "Batting her what?" she said in a louder tone.   
"Eyelashes. You know, flirting," and Calisto began to imitate the lady.   
"There really seems to be a lot of dust in the air," Alanna said looking at Calisto but that was a bad idea because Calisto was biting the inside of her cheek and you could see she was trying hard not to laugh. Alanna couldn't hold it in longer and she doubled over. Calisto joined in and before long they were leaning against each other laughing. 

"Is there something you wanted?" Thom said when it seemed that Alanna and Calisto weren't going to stop laughing. They looked up to see a stern looking Thom glaring back at them. The Lady they'd insulted looked fit to kill. Alanna glanced at Calisto who looked back at her and shook her head furiously; fiddling with the chain she always wore. She always toyed with it when she was upset or nervous. Oh well, it would be better to just get this over with quickly Alanna thought and looked at her twin. 

"We-just-wanted-to-apologise-for-what-we-did-earlier," she said in a rush and looked behind him. "Who's your friend?" she asked.   
Gary answered for Thom who was looking very shocked and didn't even seem to have registered what Alanna has said. "This is Lady Delia" Gary said gesturing to the Lady that was standing next to Jonathan. Alanna and Calisto gave her a friendly grin trying to show they had only been joking earlier. "Delia this is Alanna, Thom's sister, and her friend Calisto," he went on.   
"I should have known she was your sister Thom. If she wasn't wearing that dress I would have thought she was your brother," Delia said looking at Alanna and giving a fake giggle. 

Alanna shrugged not taking the bait. "We're twins we're supposed to look alike," She said matter-of-factly. The bell went for the boys to go to their last class. They looked at Delia apologetically and Raoul said, "Sorry ladies but we have to go," and they all strode around the corner. As soon as the last boy had rounded the corner the smile vanished from Delia's face.   
"I meant what I said you know. You really look like a guy; you even walk like one, and that dress you're wearing. Maybe next time you should look in the mirror before you leave the room" Delia smirked. Calisto opened her mouth obviously ready to retort. Delia must have seen this because she quickly added, "You shouldn't be so proud of that little trick you pulled this morning. Nobody was impressed. You should leave the real magic to the experts." She suggested. Subtle insults definitely had no meaning to Delia. Calisto was clutching her chain again and she looked ready to curse Delia. Alanna decided that they had better get out of there as she felt her own temper rising. She caught Calisto's eye. Calisto got the message and they simultaneously turned with a flick of their hair. They would deal with Delia later. 

***

Alanna stormed around her room. "She didn't even get to know us!" she said turning abruptly and looking at Calisto.   
"She probably just thought we were going to steal her boyfriends," Calisto said wisely.   
"What?!" Alanna cried. "Them!"   
"I know I mean Raoul's too tall, Gary's too stuffy, Jonathan's just Jonathan and Thom's a disgusting, loathsome little…and he's your brother, so I'll just stop talking now" Calisto came to a stop as she remembered Alanna was standing in the room.   
"Yes he is, but what are we going to do about Delia?" Alanna asked ignoring Calisto.   
A grin spread across Calisto's face, "Oh, I've got an idea," she said mischievously and leaned over to whisper in Alanna's ear.   
Alanna grinned, "Let's do it!" 

***

{A/N} Further chapters are up on my webpage 


	3. chapter 3

GETTING UNHITCHED 

{A/N I'd like to state again for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me.   
This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless. }   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.   
e-mail and tell me what you think : terra786@hotmail.com 

  
Chapter 3 

Alanna and Calisto had not slept the night before because they had to implement their plan to bring Delia down to size. Calisto who was not used to staying up late or waking up early was falling asleep in her porridge at the breakfast table. Thom was sitting across the table, eyeing them suspiciously. Alanna nudged Calisto awake just as the doors to the dining hall burst open and Delia descended the stairs majestically, her head held high. She was wearing a magnificent low cut purple dress with a matching purple bow in her hair and lots of jewellery and makeup. She would have looked perfect had it not been for the fact that her hair was bright green. One of Delia's friends got up and walked over to her. Getting up from their table Alanna and Calisto moved closer so that they could listen to the conversation. 

"Um…Delia what…er…have you done to your hair?" Delia's friend asked hesitantly.   
Delia smiled annoyingly, "Don't you just love it. I decided to wear something different and I had just bought this bow yesterday and it matches my dress so perfectly, don't you think?"   
Her friend looked at her nervously, "Delia the colour."   
"What about it?" Delia looked at her friend like she was mad. Calisto and Alanna had made sure that Delia could not see the effect of their spell in a mirror.   
"It's well…uh…different," Delia's friend was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. 

Alanna and Calisto chose this time to intervene. "Yes it is quite peculiar," Calisto said inspecting her hair. "Do you dye it?"   
"Of course she doesn't! That colouring can only come naturally," Alanna told Calisto haughtily and they both turned away from Delia and grinned evilly. Delia seemed to detect something was wrong because she looked at her friend, stuck her hand out imperiously, and demanded, "Mirror!"   
Just as Delia looked in the mirror, Alanna heard Calisto murmur the words to un-shield the spell they had done allowing Delia to see her true appearance. 

Delia let out a high-pitched shriek and turned to Alanna and Calisto. "What have you done to my hair?" she cried.   
"Who? Us?" they asked innocently.   
"I'm going to get you for this?" everyone at the breakfast table watched Delia stomp out of the dining hall, then burst out laughing. Well, most of the Ladies that is. 

"Why'd you do that to her?" Thom asked looking at then sternly.   
"Oh, some people will do anything to people who are more intelligent and beautiful than them, even frame them for something they haven't done. It's despicable!" Calisto said angrily and she and Alanna turned to leave.   
"Who? Me?" Thom scoffed stepping in front of Alanna and Calisto. 

They had decided to just deny doing it and keep out of trouble but blaming Thom was not a good idea. "Who else is there who has the gift, besides Jonathan? Everyone knows he's wimp," Calisto said. Someone cleared their throat behind them. Calisto and Alanna spun around and gasped. Jonathan had a very annoyed look on his face and Alanna thought she should speak up. "Just pretend you didn't hear that Jonathan, you weren't supposed to anyway," she said consolingly. "Thom, we're just saying we didn't do anything to. She must have used the wrong dye in her hair. All we did was tease her a little and we couldn't help it, it's in our nature," 

Thom looked at them disbelievingly. "Fine, don't listen to me!" Alanna said angrily and stomped of. Calisto pulled a face in Thom's direction then followed her. 

***

Alanna and Calisto had spent the day walking around the city. Alanna admired the weapons and Calisto stocked up on magical ingredients. Now they were back in Alanna's room and Alanna was practicing again since she hadn't had time that morning. Calisto, finally getting bored of watching Alanna do a whole lot of kicks and punches that all looked the same to her, wandered into her own room. A few minutes later she came running back out and started rushing around Alanna's room rummaging in all the cupboards and looking under the bed. Before she could start unpacking Alanna's trunks Alanna stepped in front of her, "What's wrong with you?" she asked. "If you haven't noticed, this is my room you're destroying!" 

"I can't find it!" Calisto wailed looking at Alanna desperately.   
"Can't find what?" Alanna asked. She looked at Calisto closely and knew, something was missing, Calisto looked different. Calisto's hand came to her neck as if to touch something there, finding nothing, her hand dropped to her side and she sighed dejectedly. That was when Alanna realized what was missing.   
"Calisto, where's you chain?" she asked uncertainly. Since Alanna had known Calisto she had always seen her with a silver chain with a ruby attached to it around her neck. It was a family heirloom and had been passed down from generation to generation.   
"It's gone!" Calisto wailed.   
"What do you mean it's gone? You never take it off; you even sleep with it on. You bathe with it on!" Alanna asked incredulously. 

"I must have forgotten to put it on after I had a bath last night. I can't believe I'm so stupid!" Calisto looked ready to start banging her head against the wall.   
Alanna looked around the room thoughtfully, "I think I know where it might be."   
"Where is it? I promise, if you've taken it I'll hex you." Calisto said looking at Alanna suspiciously.   
"I've got one word for you." Calisto looked at Alanna enquiringly and she continued.   
"Delia." 

"You don't think she stole it, do you?" Calisto flopped down on the bed looking distraught.   
"Well who else really, really hates us and would want to get revenge?" Alanna began pacing around the room. Before Calisto started to list all the possibilities Alanna carried on, "She did say she'd get us for what we did."   
"So, what are you going to do about it?"   
"Me?"   
"I can't do anything I'm too hysterical!" Calisto looked at Alanna pleadingly then grinned. "Plus I know all your secrets and you know how bad I am at keeping secrets."   
"Fine," Alanna glared at Calisto. "I was thinking maybe I'd steal it back tonight while she was sleeping,"   
"As long as you get it back."   
Alanna sighed, what wouldn't she do for Calisto? 

***

Alanna crept along the corridor to Delia's room. It was midnight and she could see the full moon through one of the high windows. If she got caught she was dead meat, especially since Thom was already angry about the dummies and the thing with the hair. She arrived at Delia's room and checked the door. It was locked. Alanna reached into the pocket of her breeches and extracted a thin piece of metal, which she put into the lock and jiggled around as quietly as possible. The lock clicked and Alanna swung the door open silently. She looked around and realized she had no idea where to start looking. 

"If I was a piece of valuable stolen jewellery where would I be?" she muttered to herself under her breath stepping into the room. Her eyes immediately fell on a small wooden chest on top of Delia's dresser. She walked over and looked at it carefully. It didn't look like a jewellery box but it was too small to keep clothes in. She retrieved the piece of metal again and started to move it around when a voice behind her interrupted what she was doing. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," it couldn't have been Delia because the voice definitely belonged to a male. Alanna drew in her breath. It was probably one of the guards who had seen the door open and come to investigate. Why hadn't she remembered to lock the door? She was so stupid sometimes. Alanna slowly turned around to face the worst. Casually leaning against one of the walls was a very tall man wearing breeches and a shirt, not a guard's uniform. Alanna couldn't see his face because he like herself was wearing a mask. 

"What are you doing in here?" she asked annoyed.   
"I should ask you the same thing," the man said angrily making his way over to Alanna. "I told the court that I was going to be here today and that no one must disturb me. Do you dare defy your king? I'll have your ears for this lad."   
Alanna almost burst out laughing at that. He thought she was a boy and what was all this nonsense about being a king.   
"King?" Alanna asked.   
"Are you not part of my court?" the man asked.   
"No, not that I know of," Alanna shook her head.   
The man seemed to be talking to himself, "Probably just an amateur. Definitely doesn't know what he's doing," he addressed Alanna again, "I think you had better leave and don't think of coming to the palace to steal again. This is my territory."   
"Last time I checked it belonged to the real king," Alanna said. "Now if you'll excuse me I've got work to do." She turned and began to fiddle with the lock again.   
"Don't…" the man began but before he could finish the lock clicked and a terrible high pitched sound filled the room. 

"I told you not to do that," the man said angrily. Delia sat up in bed, looked at them for a few minutes then began to scream at the top of her lungs.   
"No, you said you wouldn't do that if you were me," Alanna said indignantly. She could hear the guard's footsteps in the corridor. The man put the chest in a bag he was carrying.   
"Just come on," the man said grabbing her hand and steering her towards a tapestry hanging on the other side of the room. 

"Let go of me! By the way I don't think one of us would be able to hide behind that tapestry let alone both of us."   
The man let go of Alanna's hand and turned to face her, "Listen, I don't have to help you since you got yourself in this mess, but I am, so I'd appreciate it if you would just keep your mouth shut. I know a way out of this room so you either stop making smart comments and follow me or stay here and have a party with the guards."   
"I'll stop talking," Alanna said quickly, picturing the look on Thom's face if he found out about this and followed the stranger to the tapestry. He swept it aside and Alanna saw there was a door behind it. He pushed the door open and Alanna followed him through it. On the other side she found herself in a dimly lit passage. The man turned right and Alanna followed him. They came to a bend rounded it and found themselves face to face with two guards. Alanna instinctively got into fighting stance. 

"Stand back while I get rid of them," The man hissed at Alanna.   
"Not a chance," she answered. "You take the one on the left and I'll take the other one."   
Before the man could stop her Alanna had jumped forward and expertly kicked the guard in the chest while still in the air and he fell to the floor. Alanna landed on her feet in front of the guard just as he was getting to his feet and before he realized what was happening she punched him in the face and at the same time kicked him in the stomach. The guard fell to the floor unconscious and Alanna looked up to see that the man had finished of his guard and was standing staring at her. 

"What?" she asked.   
"You really know how to fight," he said surprised, but Alanna didn't have time to answer because they heard more guards coming. They took of at a run down the passage, Alanna in the lead. She could hear the guards behind them and she hesitated as she came to the end of the passage. She didn't know whether to turn left or right. She finally decided to just go through the door directly in front of her. They stood on one of the many balconies overlooking the palace gardens. They leaned against the door until they heard the guards pass then let out equally relieved sighs. Alanna turned to face the man. 

"That was close," she said breathlessly.   
"Who are you?" The man asked.   
"Who are you?" Alanna asked. They both reached out and yanked each other's masks off at the same time. The man looked about twenty, (A/N: I decided to make George younger than in the books. Deal with it), had light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was actually quite handsome. Alanna mentally kicked herself at that thought.   
"You're a girl!" he gasped.   
Alanna couldn't help herself, "And you're a boy," she said sarcastically. 

Hazel eyes met purple and it looked like the man was going to say something when they heard more guards coming.   
"I think we should leave now, while we can" Alanna said when the guards had passed. They walked to the doors, turned and ran in different directions. The man going left and Alanna right. 

***


	4. chapter 4

GETTING UNHITCHED 

  
  
Chapter 4 

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.   
  
Thank you to knot2be, Karr (I'll take that as a compliment, I hope I improve), Keladry of Queenscove, Tenshichild, Blue forget-me-not, Lizzy (I know I said Tuesday, sorry!) for reviewing and to those who appreciate silently though I wish you'd say hi. 

***

Alanna turned over restlessly. She had been tossing and turning in bed for about half an hour ever since she had run away from the stranger in the passage. Three 'o clock thoughts were rattling around in her head like dice and she was finding it impossible to sleep. Discontent settled over her as she considered her lot in life. The life of a Lady might be heaven to someone like Delia but to Alanna it was a trap. Alanna felt miserable just thinking about the endless dances and dress fittings that awaited her during her stay at the palace, forcing herself to fit a role that didn't suit her. Walking sedately when she wished to stride through the corridors with a sword at her side. Curtseying serenely when she wished to climb mountains and visit far away lands. And worst of all, being so close to the best knights in the Tortall and unable to learn from them, forced instead to watch them covertly from the gardens or balconies of the palace while pretending to do embroidery. 

Thom had no idea how lucky he was. But that was an unfair thought. Thom had never wanted to become a Knight. Her mind wandered back to her childhood. Thom pretending to be a powerful sorcerer and Alanna the King's champion beside the river with a host of other children from the neighbouring lands. Then her thoughts turned as they often did to the day they had left home and their plans to change roles. But Alanna had not had the courage to go through with it. She was not sure to this day whether she had made the right decision. 

Over the years she had managed to sneak out of the convent disguised as one of the many young boys who perpetually crowded the streets of the town. She had managed to pick up many skills from travellers and residents of the town during her stay at the convent that weren't exactly a part of the traditional syllabus. Although she had not felt comfortable using her Gift, Calisto had cajoled her until she had picked up rudimentary magic.   
At the palace Thom had learnt to use his Gift along with Jonathan and over the years had even managed to master the fighting arts he had hated as a child. He also had made wonderful friends who kept him from becoming too absorbed in his Gift as he used to do growing up. 

Alanna threw her legs over the side of the bed. She had to get out of the palace. The pranks had been fun but her enjoyment had ended quickly and she had to go back to being respectable and boring. Maintaining a good mood this week was going to be close to impossible. There were a large number of balls as Jonathan was at the age to marry. Balls that meant dress fittings, lectures on etiquette from the older Ladies and of course the ever present suitors. Some of the Ladies who had enjoyed the prank on Delia had invited Alanna and Calisto to a tea where they would be making tapestries and it would have been rude to refuse. 

She would just go for a walk in the city she decided after pacing the bedroom floor for the hundredth time. It was still night so it was unlikely anyone would see her and she'd make sure she was back before dawn. Alanna got down on her hands and knees and searched under her bed for her black dress with slits down the sides and boots. Maybe she should take the priestesses advice and get a maid to make sure her clothes stayed in her trunk and not on the floor, she could even get some perfume for the room. Alanna snorted and shook her head, what was she thinking? This system was a lot better since she always knew where her things were… in a pile under the bed. 

Once she was dressed she got on her hands and knees again and pulled a trunk out from under her bed. She hauled the trunk onto her bed and opened it. Inside was an assortment of weapons of all sizes. She pulled a dagger out and put it in her boot then she got two small knives and strapped them to her wrists. Satisfied that she had enough weapons she closed the trunk and replaced it under the bed. Alanna walked over to the door and stuck her head out, checking to see if the coast was clear. When she was sure that there were no guards coming she grabbed a coil of rope from her closet and she slipped out the door. 

Alanna ran stealthily along the passage keeping to the shadows. She reached her destination, an open window that was close to the ground, quite quickly and she hoisted herself up onto the sill. She secured the hook of the rope she carried, so the sharp spikes at the end of it caught on the sill and threw the rope out of the window. Alanna swung her legs over the side of the window, caught hold of the rope and climbed down it until she felt the ground below her. Alanna put her feet on the ground and yanked on the rope until it came loose from the sill. She collected the rope and put it behind a bush, she needed to be able to move freely if she was going to get past the guards at the gate. 

Alanna was in one of the front gardens. The wall that ran around the palace was right in front of her hidden behind trees. Alanna started to run along the palace wall keeping behind the trees. As she drew closer to the palace gate the trees started to get scarcer until they stopped abruptly. She crouched, hidden from view behind the last tree and scanned the area. The palace gate was a few more paces along the wall from her and she could see the path leading to the palace clearly from her vantage point. She was surprised to find only two guards at the gate and a few more on top of the palace wall. After the break in earlier she had thought the palace would be more guarded. The gate was very high but she was sure if she caused a diversion she would be able to climb it without getting caught and she knew the perfect way to get the guards attention. Calisto had taught Alanna this spell and she had tried it a few times when she needed to sneak out the convent but she was still a bit rusty. She hoped the guards would fall for it. Alanna closed her eyes and tapped into her Gift, she used it to make an image of a naked women run out in front of the guards grinning evilly. She used to do the same thing to sneak out of the convent. Only with a guy. Those priestesses sure got excited easily. While the guards were distracted Alanna darted from her hiding place behind the tree and did a running jump half way up the palace gate. She climbed the rest of the way and jumped to the ground on the other side, landing in a crouching position. She immediately got up and ran down the road.   
"Men," she muttered to herself as she heard the guards finally snap out of their trance and shout after her but she was already too far away from them. 

***

Alanna strolled slowly through the city admiring how beautiful it looked at night, the moon casting a silvery light over the buildings. She was staring at the sky as she walked and didn't notice the man behind her until he grabbed her purse and sped away. Alanna recovered fast and raced after him. No way was some lowly thief going to get away with stealing from her. She caught up with him in an alley with a dead-end and he turned to face her grinning. He was much taller than her and had broad strong shoulders. Alanna smiled back and before he could move she spun on the ball of her foot and thrust her other foot into his face. Alanna heard his nose break and blood started pouring out of it. The man stumbled back then righted himself and getting over the shock of being attacked by a girl threw a punch at her. Alanna stumbled back a few steps. Gathering her strength she caught his next punch and flipped him onto his back. Before he could get up Alanna put her foot on his neck.   
"Move and I break your neck," she growled at him. "Trying to steal from me was a very bad idea." 

Alanna leaned over and retrieved her purse from the pocket of his breeches. She held it in front of him, "Thank you," she said brightly and then knocked him unconscious with a simple kick to exactly the right place on his neck. Alanna walked away from the man with a satisfied smile on her face. The man had been so much taller and stronger than her and she had managed to beat him. When she had first started training everyone she had tried to fight had won because she was so much smaller. Alanna kicked a stone on the ground and frowned. She hated being short but she brightened as she thought again of the man lying unconscious on the ground. She had learned how to use her shortness as an advantage in a fight and how to kick so she that could actually hurt someone who wasn't a midget. Alanna had been so deep on her thought she hadn't noticed she was going and she found herself standing outside an inn. She looked up at the sign over the door "The Dancing Dove." The sign made her realise that she was quite thirsty after her excursions. Alanna entered the dark room and looked around, most of the tables were occupied by men having late night drinks. Trying not to attract too much attention Alanna made her way to the bar. The bartender looked up. 

"How may I help you?" he asked kindly   
Alanna smiled at him, "Water please," she said in her most polite voice. While she was waiting for her drink Alanna scanned the area. Most of the activity seemed to be centred on a man sitting at a table by the fireplace across the room. She turned back to the bar to accept the drink the bartender passed to her and thanked him. She turned back to the crowd just as the people in front of the man moved aside and Alanna got a good look at him. At that very moment he looked up and they stared at one another. 

"You!" they hissed at the same time. Recognizing each other from their earlier encounter at the palace. The man got up and made his way over to her.   
"What are you doing here?" the man asked.   
"Good to see you too," Alanna said brightly.   
"Please," the man scoffed, glaring.   
"No name?" Alanna asked quizzically. "I can't keep thinking of you as that little pick pocket from the palace."   
"Little pick pocket!" he said in an offended voice. "I happen to be…"   
"Yes?" Alanna asked.   
"Well, I know who you are. You're one of the Ladies…" the man started but was cut of by Alanna. "Ladies, how dare you. I'm not one of those airheads," she shrieked. The man went on ignoring her outburst, "You're Lady Alanna of Trebond, sister of Thom of Trebond. And only a Lady would shriek like that."   
"How'd you know that?" Alanna asked brow furrowed ignoring the comment about shrieking, she didn't shriek, she occasionally yelled at a high pitch.   
The man smiled, "I have ways of finding things out and having spies at the palace does help a bit."   
"Good idea," Alanna nodded her head in approval. "If you know my name don't you think I should at least know yours."   
"Fine. I'm George, King of the Thieves," He stuck out his hand. Alanna took it, "Alanna," she said shaking it.   
"Would you like to join me?" he asked pointing to the table near the fireplace. There were still quite a few people standing around it watching them.   
Alanna shrugged, "Sure, and you can explain this King thing you keep going on about," she said and followed George to the table. As they made their way he began talking, " All the thieves in the country answer to me. I solve all their problems and make the rules." He stopped in front of it and looked at the people.   
"Court this is Lady Alanna." He told the people standing around the table.   
Alanna glared at him. "Lady Alanna, this is my court," Alanna inclined her head politely and then turned to George and hissed, "Stop calling me Lady or else."   
George held up his hands in surrender and sat down. Alanna took the seat opposite him. 

"You were serious about being King weren't you"   
"Yes, none of these people will answer to the King of Tortall," he paused then asked, "So, what were you doing sneaking into Lady Delia's room? Not trying to dye her hair again I hope," George grinned. It seemed that he really did hear about everything that happened in the palace.   
"Actually I was looking for something," Alanna said then studied him thoughtfully. Finally after a long silence she spoke, "You didn't by any chance happen to find a silver chain with a ruby at the end while you were working in there?"   
"Maybe," George said simply, shrugging.   
"You did, didn't you?" Alanna said.   
"Why do you want it so badly? Did your sweetheart at the palace who captured your heart give it to you?" George asked mischievously.   
"If anyone tried anything like that I'd remove his heart. Actually the chain belongs to a friend of mine and it means a lot to her. Delia stole it. I promised her I'd get it back and I always keep my promises no matter what I have to do to fulfil them," Alanna explained.   
"Anything?" George asked grinning evilly.   
Alanna's eyes narrowed, "Almost anything." 

"Well, would you try to beat me at cards for it?" he asked.   
"I won't try. I will," Alanna said.   
George produced a pack of cards, "Do you want to deal or shall I," he asked.   
"Hand them over. I don't trust you," she answered.   
Alanna shuffled the cards and then dealt them. She picked hers up and looked at them. She grinned this was going to be easy. Five seconds into the game Alanna looked up and saw George slipping a card out of his sleeve while expertly knocking another of the table. Alanna smirked inwardly; her ego that had been gently expanding with her defeat of the man in the alley now grew even bigger. Good fighters needed to notice every detail. She must getting really good as she had actually caught the King of Thieves cheating. Alanna was about to say something about it, when the door to the inn burst open and a man Alanna recognized walked into the room. Alanna jumped up. "Sorry, have to stop the game here. I've got somewhere important to be," she said in a rush, grabbing her purse of the table and turning to go. But it was too late the man had already spotted her, "Stop!" he shouted after her. 

Alanna turned and faced him, "Oh my dear man," she said in a falsely high-pitched voice. George raised his eyebrows at her. "Who did this horrible deed to you?" she asked.   
"You know very well who did this to me," he growled.   
"Who me?" she squeaked. "A poor helpless Lady who can't defend herself let alone hurt a strong man like you."   
"You weren't so helpless when you punched me in the face," he said angrily taking a step towards her menacingly.   
Alanna dropped the innocent act. "You've already been beat up by a Lady. Trust me you don't want to get beat up by a Lady in front of your friends," she hissed so that nobody would hear her. The man looked at the floor embarrassed.   
"Do you know each other? And what happened to you,?" George asked questioningly.   
"That girl cornered me in an alley and beat me up," the man said angrily.   
"After he stole my purse," Alanna said accusingly, glaring at the man. He glared back. 

Before they could get into another fight George stepped in between them. He turned and looked at the man, "Don't you think you should get those wounds checked out? I'll deal with you later."   
Alanna snickered and pulled a face at the man as he walked away. George spun around and faced her.   
"You. Sit. Explain. Now," he said angrily.   
"I don't have to explain anything to you," Alanna said defiantly.   
"Yes you do. Especially since you just beat up my best thief," George said scowling.   
Alanna burst out laughing, "He was your best?" she gasped out.   
"I don't find that very funny," George said scathingly.   
"Well, I do," Alanna said still laughing. She sobered at the look she got from George.  
"Ok, ok. What would you like to know?" she asked.   
"Where you learnt to fight for starters?" he asked.   
"At the convent," Alanna said simply.   
"I didn't think they taught you that kind of stuff at convents," George said.   
"Oh, you'll be amazed at what they can fit in between needle work and dancing. Seriously, I never really liked the convent. I was forever sneaking out and one day I got in a fight with some annoying men in the city. A boy I didn't know helped me. It turned out he was a Shang Warrior. His name is Calan and his symbol is the stallion. {A/N The Shang Warriors did have animal or mythical creatures as symbols, right?} He said I had potential but I was too old to join the Shang and he offered to teach me how to fight whenever he was in the city. I couldn't refuse. It was better than learning how to sew. From then on I snuck out of the convent whenever he was in the city. He taught me a lot but I'm still learning," 

Alanna looked thoughtful, then she continued, "I've never seen someone fight the way you do and I would have been in a lot of trouble if you hadn't been there when I broke into Delia's room. I know how to pick simple locks but I don't know how to do anything complex. You have to teach me!" she demanded.   
George arched an eyebrow, "A noble Lady wants to know how to pick locks?"   
"And street fighting. You never know when it might come in handy," she said brightly. "What's that noise outside?" Alanna tilted her head to one side, listening.   
"Um…people waking up, going to work. Doing what they usually do at four o'clock in the morning," George answered.   
"Four o'clock! I have to go!" Alanna jumped up and hurried out of the Inn. 

***

Alanna crept back into her room and shut her door quietly behind her. She emptied the contents of her purse onto her bed and stared in shock. Calisto's chain was lying among the other items in her bag. The ruby blinked up at her in the light from the rising sun. It seemed that The King of Thieves had managed to slip something past her guard after all. 

***

{A/N Review and tell me what you think.} 


	5. chapter 5

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed.

Chapter 5

Alanna felt someone shaking her and calling her name. She opened her eyes groggily. What time was it? Calisto was standing over her. As soon as she saw Alanna was awake she got straight to the point.  
"Did you get it? Do you have it?" she asked anxiously.  
"Of course," Alanna said swinging her legs over the side of the bed and rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Its in my purse. Did you ever doubt me?"  
  
Calisto rushed over to her dresser and rooted through her bag. Finding the chain she sighed in relief and put it on. She walked back over to Alanna and sat down next to her.  
"Well…the castle has lots of guards and Delia might have had spells put on the necklace to keep it safe in case we tried to take it back."  
"Why didn't you tell me earlier that she could have put spells on the necklace?" Alanna demanded. "And how did he know?" she asked out loud by mistake.  
  
"Huh…he? Who's 'he'? What aren't you telling me Alanna?" Calisto looked at Alanna suspiciously. "Is there something I should know?" She asked.  
"Don't be an idiot and even if there was something I wasn't telling you I'd have a very good reason not to," Alanna said hotly. Her head was sore and she needed more sleep.  
"Then tell me who 'he' is," Calisto demanded.  
"'He' is George," Alanna said.  
"And who exactly is George," Calisto asked.  
Alanna sighed and explained about everything that had happened last night from the time she left her room to when she left the inn."…And when I got back here the necklace was in my bag," she finished.  
  
Accepting her answer, Calisto said, "We should get down to breakfast." She got up and walked out the room leaving Alanna to trail tiredly after her.  
  
***  
  
Calisto looked over at Alanna's sleeping form and nudged her. They were in the dining hall and Alanna's head was almost in her food. Alanna stirred, looked around through half open eyes, mumbled something and fell asleep again. Calisto grinned and her hand began to slowly creep towards Alanna's plate of chocolate cake. Her hand had almost reached the plate when a fork landed on the table inches away from her hand.  
Alanna glared at her. "Touch the cake, and I kill you!" she hissed.  
"I was just going to take a little piece," Calisto whined, slouching in her chair.  
"Don't slouch, sit properly, back straight," Alanna said to annoy her.  
Calisto ignored her, "So what are we going to do today?" she asked.  
Alanna shrugged, "I dunno."  
"Maybe you should get ready for the ball tonight Alanna," Thom said from across the table.  
"It isn't polite to eavesdrop. And why would we want to get ready for the ball?" Calisto pulled a face at him.  
"I wasn't talking to you was I?" he answered.  
"You were still listening to our conversation," Calisto said.  
"Technically you're the one who's eavesdropping on my conversation with Alanna." Thom replied.  
"Stop acting like such babies, both of you," Alanna said irritably.  
  


"I just think you should look your best since there are going to be a lot of rich, handsome men to wed," Thom said.  
Alanna looked at Thom thunderstruck. He had been very stiff and formal when they first arrived at the palace but she assumed that was because he was shy and still getting used to having her around again. Now, he was actually suggesting that she get married.  
"What happened to you Thom? You were always so fun when we were young. You were the one who always came up with the best pranks. Now you're acting like all the rest of these knuckle heads at court," Alanna looked at her brother with concern.  
"I've just grown up. You should try it sometime," Thom said. "Actually a really close friend of mine has expressed an interest in you," Thom smiled.  
Alanna looked horrified, "What?!" she asked.  
"I know, it's a shock isn't it?" Thom said smiling broadly.

He stood up, "Well I'd better go. I have fencing practice. Find something nice to wear tonight, please."  
  


"So shall we listen to master Thom and start primping or shall we do something else?" Calisto asked when Thom had disappeared through the doors of the dining hall.  
"Do you have anything in particular you want to do?" Alanna asked picking up the last of the cakes.  
"Please give me the cake?!" Calisto pleaded, quickly forgetting any plans she might have had.  
Alanna looked at her friend, smiled and stuffed the cake in her mouth. "Sorry can't it's already gone," she said her mouth fill. She gulped down the cake. "So what were you saying?" she asked.  
Calisto glared, "You greedy pig."  
"I said I was sorry," Alanna said fighting back the laughter that threatened to erupt from her throat.  
Calisto glared at Alanna, "Fine, I accept your apology but resentfully."  
"Whatever makes you feel better," Alanna grinned.  
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Calisto said. "Anyway I've got a plan and I know you'll love it. It's better than staying here and getting ready for the ball."  
"What do you have in mind?" Alanna asked.  
"Well, it involves a certain thief at an inn," Calisto grinned.  
"Lets go," Alanna jumped up eagerly and turned to leave.  
"We'll need disguises," Calisto said getting up and following her.  
"And I know where we can get some," Alanna said her eyes glinting mischievously.  
  
***  
  
Alanna looked around Thom's room impressed. Who'd have thought a boy's room could be this neat. Except for a few pieces of paper strewn on his desk everything was in neat piles. Alanna walked across the room to his trunk and opened it. Even his clothes were folded neatly. As she selected two outfits Alanna heard Calisto rifling through the papers on his desk. Alanna found them both something to wear and turned to find Calisto engrossed in something written on one of the pieces of paper.  
  
"What's that?" Alanna asked.  
"A poem," Calisto said not looking up.  
Alanna sniggered, "A love poem?" she asked.  
"Not the kind boys write to impress girls. This one goes deeper than that," Calisto looked thoughtful, "Who knew that that stiff, humourless little bore could actually write something like this." Calisto put the paper down abruptly, turned and walked out of the room.  
  
***  
  
Alanna looked at her and Calisto's reflections in the window of one of the shops as they walked past. They made really good squires. They had enchanted their hair to look short and put on Thom's breeches and white shirts. The guards hadn't suspected a thing but then the guards weren't that good. They reached the Dancing Dove and walked in. Alanna looked around the inn for George. She spotted him sitting at the table by the fire. They walked over.  
  
Alanna grinned at George, "Morning," she said cheerfully. "I brought my friend to see you."  
George stood slowly, pushing his chair away from the table and getting up. Alanna thought he looked confused. He must meet a lot of people everyday she thought, so she tried to jog his memory. Moving closer she said, "I really enjoyed last night. I had a great time, I hope you did too."  
  
George gulped and took a step back, his face turning a funny shade of purple. "I knew I had too much to drink last night," he muttered to himself.  
"Um…George are you alright?" Alanna asked concerned.  
"Yes fine. There's just something I have to tell you," George said uncomfortably.  
"What?" Alanna asked.  
"It's just I'm not…I'm not… I mean I don't…" George began but Alanna interrupted.  
  
"Hold on," she said. Alanna turned to Calisto who had been pulling on her arm since she had started her conversation with George. "What do you want?" she hissed.  
"Alanna you still look like a boy," Calisto hissed back.  
"Oops," Alanna said. She concentrated on her gift, gave a soft tug on it and felt her hair begin to grow.  
"Alanna it's you," George said breathing a sigh of relief.  
"Who did you think it was," Alanna said grinning evilly. "Did I really look that bad as a squire?" she asked.  
"Of course you do! You look exactly like Thom," Calisto answered for George grinning.  
  


"You haven't introduced me to your friend," George changed the topic quickly. "This is Calisto. The one whose stolen necklace you stole," as Alanna said this Calisto's necklace appeared around her neck. "Hey, I told you not to wear that. It's not very manly."  
"I'm not a man," Calisto stuck her tongue out at Alanna.  
"Baby," Alanna said grumpily.  
"Do you two want to sit down while I go get something for us to drink?" George asked.  
"Sure," Alanna and Calisto said at the same time, pulling out chairs and plopping themselves down on them.  
"So what do you think?" Alanna asked while George was gone.  
"He seems okay for a thief," Calisto said.  
  
She stopped talking as George arrived. He sat down and handed them drinks. Calisto asked George how he had known about the spell on the necklace and soon they were deep in conversation. Alanna stopped listening after about five seconds and gazed up at the ceiling, thinking. Thom had said a close friend had expressed an interest in her. Who could it be and why her? There were so many other Ladies who wanted to get married and have children. Whoever it was that liked her had better stop liking her soon. If he didn't she could think of a lot of ways to get him to stop. Alanna grinned inwardly. She was just getting to the part of her plan where she inflicted a lot of pain on the unsuspecting knight when she felt someone poke her in the ribs.  
  
"Ow! What was that for?" she asked looking over at Calisto who was the closest to her.  
"Sorry. Look over there at there at that man sitting at the bar eating," Calisto said pointing to a really fat man sitting on a stool stuffing his face. "Isn't he just great."  
"Yes. His eating habits are just excellent," Alanna said in awe as she saw the man get half the food he was eating on his clothes and face. He was grabbing his food with both hands and there were flecks of it stuck in his moustache and beard. George who was also looking over at the man seemed puzzled. 

"Are we looking at the same person?" he asked. "'Cause the man I see just dropped half his food on the floor."  
"I know he's so gross," Alanna said smiling.  
George looked puzzled, "Then why are you so happy?"  
"Its all part of our master plan," Calisto answered.  
"Master plan? Do I really want to know?" George asked.  
  


Alanna explained the pact they made at the convent. "And if we eat like the man at the bar then no one would ever want to marry us," she said gleefully.  
"Yes, and it looks like we're going to have to implement our plan right away," Calisto put in.  
"Why?" George asked.  
" 'Cos someone's in luurve with Alanna. Thom told us the mystery man is very anxious to see her at the ball tonight. Thom's almost started sending out invitations to the wedding and thinking about colour schemes," Calisto said laughing, while Alanna glowered at her.  
  
"That's it! We're leaving," Alanna said standing up and pulling Calisto out of her chair.  
"But, but I'm having fun…and, and we can't leave yet," Calisto whined before noticing the look on Alanna's face. George waved at them as they left the inn hurriedly, trying to hide the smile on his face.  
  
***  
  
Alanna heard someone knocking at the door to her room. It was probably Thom; he'd said he'd escort her to the ball tonight. She checked her appearance in the mirror frowning at the long dark blue ball gown she had on. She would give anything to be wearing Thom's breeches again. Then she walked to the door and swung it open smiling. She was surprised to see not only Thom but Jonathan.  
  
"You look nice. Doesn't she look nice Jonathan?" Thom asked. Jonathan nodded.  
"Oh no. I do? I should go change," Alanna said dismayed.  
"Don't be stupid," Thom sounded annoyed.  
"Fine," Alanna said and reached for Thom's hand. Thom stepped back out of her reach.  
"Maybe you should let Jonathan escort you to the ball," Thom said.  
"That's okay I'm sure he has better things to do," Alanna said praying Jonathan would agree with her.  
"I really wouldn't mind being your escort," Jonathan said smiling and taking her hand. 

There was nothing Alanna could do but let herself get dragged along by Jonathan as they made their way to the ball. Jonathan was walking very close to her and once they were inside the ballroom Alanna stepped away quickly and looked around for Calisto who had decided to come to the ball earlier instead of waiting for Thom. She spotted her standing near Delia and flashing the necklace at her every once in a while. Delia was glaring at her hostilely, angry that her attempt at revenge had gone awry. Alanna suppressed a laugh and began to make her way over but was stopped by Jonathan.  
  
"Alanna do you want to dance?" he asked.  
"Okay," Alanna said smiling nervously. What was he up to? Why the sudden interest in her? Jonathan led Alanna onto the dance floor just as the orchestra began to play a very slow song. When the dance ended Alanna curtsied and was about to leave the dance floor when Jonathan grabbed her hand and went down on one knee. Everyone turned to watch them. Oh no! She had to stop him!  
  
"Jonathan what are you doing?" Alanna asked distressed.  
"Alanna I have something very important to tell you," Jonathan said taking a deep breath.  
"Jonathan get up you're ruining your breeches," Alanna said hurriedly trying to stall him. Where was Calisto?

She looked around and spotted her making her way towards her but just as she reached the edge of the dance floor Thom intercepted her. Alanna was going to kill him when this was over. The crowd of people was edging closer, trying to see exactly what the prince was doing.  
  
"Don't worry love, I have lots of breeches," Jonathan said not getting up.  
"Well, you can never have too many breeches," Alanna said matter-of-factly.  
"What I'm trying to say is…" he began but stopped as Alanna suddenly went into a coughing fit trying to create an excuse to leave.  
"Oh my sweet darling are you alright?" the crowd gasped at Jonathan's endearment. Alanna looked around and blushed she hadn't noticed all the people watching. She stopped coughing hastily.  
  
"I'm…I'm fine," Alanna stuttered.  
"I know that we haven't known each other long," Jonathan said.  
"Yes you're right. Only three days in fact," Alanna said trying to discourage him.  
"But it's as if I've known you my whole life. You're witty, intelligent, talented and beautiful."  
  
At this point Jonathan stopped; reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small, velvet covered box. Alanna stepped back. She would have run away if she could, but this was her prince. She couldn't insult him in such a way. With a resigned sigh she let him continue.  
  
"You are also very gifted when it comes to magic. I've seen what you can do first hand and was very impressed. So I just want to say now. Please-don't- curse-me! This was Thom's idea!" Jonathan's sober expression was replaced by a grin. Alanna turned to Thom who was leaning against Calisto he was laughing so hard. Calisto's shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter.  
  
"When I'm done with you you're going to wish you were dead," Alanna said glaring fiercely.  
"What? Your own brother?" Thom said gasping for air. "Not so stiff anymore am I?" he turned to Jonathan. "Thank you for pretending to like my sister."  
"I didn't mind one bit," Jonathan said smiling to himself.  
  
***  
  
  



	6. chapter 6

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

Thank you to Luthien RhiannonCat5, me, babymar-mar, maria, Anonymous miss, Lady Sandra of Ruatha, Tenshichild, thelastsilmaril for reviewing. }

Alanna walked into the dining hall that morning seething. She had had a very restless night plotting ways to get back at Thom, but none of her ideas were any good. She spotted a servant walking in front of her carrying a precariously balanced plate of food. An idea finally struck her.  
  
Alanna walked up to the servant, "Excuse me," she said tapping him on the shoulder. The servant turned nearly dropping the plate he was carrying in the process. Alanna caught the side of it and steadied him. She smiled her politest smile, "Do you mind if I take this off your hands?" she asked pointing to the plate.  
"Ummm…" the servant seemed lost for words and reluctant but Alanna knew he couldn't deny a Lady's request, no matter how strange. "Okay."  
"Thank you," Alanna said taking the plate and smiling brightly.  
  
Alanna began to walk over to where Thom was sitting at the table. It was really too bad that she was wearing such a long cumbersome gown. It was an accident waiting to happen she thought as she pretended to stumble. The plate of food flew out of her hand headed straight for Thom. Thom looked up and froze, not having time to react. Luckily for him Calisto, who was sitting near him, had faster reflexes. Her hands moved creating a spell, which hit the plate with such force it flew across the dining room and shattered on the opposite wall. Thom opened his mouth obviously ready to thank Calisto but Alanna interrupted him.  
  
Standing and dusting of her gown Alanna glared at Calisto, "What did you do that for?" she hissed.  
"What?" Calisto looked confused. Then Alanna's true motives seemed to dawn on her "Oh, well you should have told me. I thought it was just you tripping in those gowns of yours again. If I'd known you were trying to cream him, I wouldn't have saved him."  
  
The grateful look on Thom's face turned to annoyance, "I guess I should say thanks. Not that your spell was very remarkable. It was actually a rather poor choice," he drawled.  
"What do you mean 'poor'?" Calisto snarled.  
"You could have made the plate hover before letting it gently to the ground instead of crashing it against the wall," Thom said obnoxiously.  
"Please demonstrate how wonderfully you could have made the plate hover before letting it gently to the ground," Calisto pointed to another plate on the table.  
"Uh…well," Thom faltered.  
"You don't know the spell do you. Bet you just made all that stuff about hovering plates up. There isn't any such spell is there?" Calisto said triumphantly.  
"I did not make it up," Thom said childishly. "I just can't remember it right now."  
"Fine, then we'll go to the library and look it up," Calisto said bossily and began to walk out the dining hall head held high. She turned when she reached the door, "Well, are you coming."  
"Coming!" Thom grumbled, getting up and sprinting after her.  
  
Alanna watched them go then looked at the seat Thom had vacated next to Jonathan. She grinned and watched Jonathan shrink back in fear as she made her way over. He was obviously waiting for whatever agony she had in plan for him. She sat down enjoying the way Jonathan's fork, which was half way to his mouth, shook.  
  
***  
  
(3 weeks later)  
  
Alanna walked into the stables with a bow and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. She was going to ride into the forest surrounding the palace to meet George. She wished Calisto would join her but lately she had been spending more and more time with Thom. They spent all day in the library looking up obscure spells and having philosophical discussions. Life was so boring without Calisto. There was no one around to help her fend of the Lords of the court or to back her up when she sparred verbally with Delia.

She had spent more time with the Ladies who had invited her to embroider with them after the Delia fiasco. Some of the opinions that she had held since childhood had undergone swift re-evaluation. Calisto was so interesting that she hadn't felt it necessary to make any other friends at the convent. At the palace she soon discovered that not all Ladies were obsessed with marriage, flower arranging and finding the perfect shade of material for a gown despite owning several similar colours. 

She learnt that the conversations she witnessed between the Lords and Ladies at the balls were not simply meaningless flirtations but political moves in which a Lady could forward the views of herself and her husband, father or brother in between the fluttering of eyelashes. A woman could have a say in the way that Tortall was run if she used subtlety and intelligence.

Some of the Ladies who came from lands that lay close to the borders of Tortall which were frequently involved with skirmishes with the neighbouring countries even knew how to use bows and arrows. When Alanna had expressed her disbelief one of the Ladies had replied in a voice that was slightly harsh, " The women of my land learned long ago that those without swords may still die upon them." *

She especially liked a young Lady called Patricia. She had not met her in the Sewing Chambers but in the Library where Alanna had been looking for Calisto on Thom who had been as ever in search of some esoteric scroll or other. Patricia had a wicked sense of humour and could usually be found up to her elbows in books with dust and ink smeared across her cheeks and fingers. They also shared a common hobby. Avoiding the amorous Lords of the palace. Patricia did not want to take the chance of being married to a Lord who did not own any books, tomes or scrolls. After all she was already in heaven in the palace Libraries which had the largest collection of literature in Tortall and was only surpassed by the college in Carthak.

They had spent some interesting rainy day conversation, comparing methods of discouraging the Lords of the palace.

Unfortunately Patricia had been engrossed in translating a new scroll from Scanra. 

Gary and Raoul had mumbled something about sparring and she hadn't even bothered to ask if she could go along as she knew the answer would be a resounding no. Her newfound appreciation of the Ladies at court did not extend to wanting to spend another morning practicing her needlepoint. 

Jonathan who had quickly gotten over his momentary infatuation with Delia had disappeared early in the morning. Probably hiding from the many eminently suitable Ladies his mother seemed do keen on introducing him to.

Alanna smiled in anticipation when she came in sight of the Palace Stable. Alanna saddled her horse and led it out of the stable until she was out of sight. It would not do if anyone saw that she wasn't riding sidesaddle. She mounted the horse and guided it at a trot towards the forest. There was still an hour before she had to meet George but she could not spend another moment at the palace. She was going out of her mind with boredom. She reached the clearing at centre of the forest where George said they should meet and stopped, dismounting her horse. Removing her bow from the quiver on her back she decided that she could at least improve her archery since she was already here. She looked around and saw that she was standing in a clearing with apple trees all around her. They would make good targets she decided. Alanna raised her bow and pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back. She pulled the arrow back on the bowstring until it pressed hard against her nose {A/N I don't actually know how to do archery so I'm not sure if this is how you use the bow and arrow } She steadied her hand and focused on the target in front of her. Alanna let go of the arrow and watched it whistle threw the air towards her target. She whooped and jumped up and down as the apple fell to the floor. Perfect hit. After that the time past quickly. She was on her last arrow when she heard the bushes behind her rustling. Alanna spun around bow and arrow raised and ready, aiming it at the intruder. Alanna looked at the person who had just emerged from the bushes and paled. It was Jonathan.  Alanna tried to hide the bow behind her back.  
  
She laughed nervously, "Jonathan. How good to see you?" she said with a false smile.  
"Jeez." Jonathan said. "I know I played a prank on you, but trying to shoot me! Don't you think that's a bit much?" Then he burst out laughing.  
"What?" Alanna said angrily. She didn't care if he was the prince. How dare he laugh at her?  
"It's just that you look exactly like a little kid who's been caught stealing or doing something wrong," Jonathan said fighting back laughter. 

"Calm down, I like the way you normally look," he added softly.  
  
Alanna glared, tightened her grip on her bow and fired. The arrow whizzed past Jonathan missing his head by an inch and imbedded itself in an apple on the tree behind him. Alanna walked over and picked the apple of the tree.  
"Want a apple?" she asked arrogantly holding it up for him to see.  
Alanna saw a look of fear on his face. She grinned she was glad she'd scared him a little. That would teach him never to laugh at her again. Her grin vanished however when she saw that he wasn't looking at her.  
"What's wrong?" she asked.  
"Huge. Bear. Behind you," he stammered pointing behind her.  
Alanna turned and saw the bear towering over her. She threw her bow away, crouched down, grabbed a dagger from inside her boot and rolled away from the bear, standing up next to Jonathan. Fight or flight? Alanna thought grinning to herself. Definitely fight.  
  
Jonathan pushed Alanna behind him, "Stand back, I'll handle this," he said.  
"I'm the one with the knife!" Alanna said incredulously.  
She tried to step out from behind Jonathan as he pushed her back. They tripped and fell. Alanna landed on top of Jonathan. She was about to get up and fight the bear, when she heard some one rush out of the bushes and a few minutes later the bear scampered away. She got up and dusted herself of. She turned to thank whoever it was who had saved them and gasped.  
  
"Thought you needed some help," George said grinning.  
"I wanted to do that!" Alanna complained.  
"You're welcome," George said sarcastically.  
"Oh yes, thank you," Alanna said unfazed.  
She heard someone clearing their throat behind them and turned to see Jonathan standing there looking at George questioningly.  
"You know him?" Jonathan asked her.  
"Yes. This is George. He's a friend. He works at the Dancing Dove an inn in the city. He's in the um…item recovery business," she improvised then turned to George. "George this is Jonathan. He's the prince." She said stating the obvious.  
  
George bowed deeply, "My prince," he said respectfully though Alanna saw the mocking glint in his eye. Jonathan looked uncomfortable.  
"Don't we have to be somewhere?" Alanna asked noticing this.  
"Yes, your lessons," George said.  
He bowed again mischievously and began to walk away. Alanna followed leaving Jonathan standing, gaping after them.  
  
***  
  
{A/N No bears were harmed in the making of this chapter :p

" The women of my land learned long ago that those without swords may still die upon them." *

I paraphrased this from Eowyn's line in The Two Towers movie. I'm not sure if it's in the book too.

  
"Women of this country learned long ago that those without swords may still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain."                                     Eowyn


	7. chapter 7

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

Sorry I posted late. Problems with my phone line.

Thank you to:

Verasilyn, Mango Sam, imogenhm, nikki

Tebshichild: he Jon- Alanna-George situation will get more complicated in Chapter 8, Luthian Rhionnancat5: I agree, Eowyn is awesome, the pairing in this story is a secret, but feel free to speculate

maria: sorry to say, the pranks are almost at an end, things are getting more serious

thelastsilmaril: well Thom definitely had an evil (misguided evil) streak in the books, and he is Alanna's twin, so he has a wicked sense of humour too, just a better hidden one

Chapter 7

Alanna stepped out of her room and bumped into Calisto. She hadn't seen her for the past few days. Sometimes it seemed like she didn't even come back to her room at night.

"Hello, it's good to see you," Calisto said uncomfortably. 

"Yeah, you too," Alanna answered noncommittally.

"So…where are you going?" Calisto bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.

"The inn probably," Alanna said. Then added as an afterthought, "Would you like to come?"

"Um…well I'm supposed to meet Thom but - " Calisto was interrupted by Alanna.

"Oh, never mind the" Alanna said disappointed. She should have known. Calisto didn't seem to have any time for her these days. 

"- I have time to stop by for a while." She finished with a grin.

Alanna grinned back despite herself. She was never able to stay angry with Calisto for long. They started off down the corridor laughing and pushing each other. As they passed Lady Delia and some of her friends, Alanna ducked behind a suit of armour and decided to do a bit of eavesdropping. 

"Have you heard?" Delia exclaimed.

Her friends crowded around her, "What?"

"Two new dashingly handsome young Lords have just arrived at the Palace." Delia supplied obviously loving the attention she was getting.

"Ooooh," the Ladies around her sighed.

"They're looking for wives too and they'll be at the ball tonight," Delia continued. 

Alanna pressed her hand over her mouth suppressing a giggle. "Let's get out of here before those dashingly handsome Lords find us," she said in a high-pitched voice. They were still laughing as they left the palace heading towards the city and they didn't even notice Jonathan when they passed him. 

***

Alanna and Calisto strode into the inn and looked around for George. They saw him sitting in a corner, walked over and collapsed into the seats opposite him. 

"Calisto, Alanna. Good to see you again," George greeted them.

"Hello George," they said cheerfully.

"What can I do for you two?" he asked.

"Nothing. The palace was just boring as usual so we thought we'd stop by," Calisto said in a bored tone.

"Well, if you're looking to be entertained can I interest you in a game of cards," George grinned.

Alanna looked suspiciously at him, "What are the stakes?"

"Well, whatever you want them to be," George answered persuasively.

"We could play for drinks," Calisto smiled finally interested.

"Now I want to know more," George seemed intrigued.

"Every time you lose you drink a shot," Calisto explained.

"I didn't think you'd play that kind of game," George looked surprised.

Alanna finally spoke up, "We don't usually. I'm not really good when it comes to holding my alcohol," she said and at their disappointed faces she added, "But I'm really bored. So let the games begin."

Calisto and George cheered. George handed over the cards and Alanna dealt while George ordered three glasses and two pitchers of ale.

***

Thom burst into the squires' common area looking furious. Raoul, Gary and Jonathon looked up at him surprised.

"I thought you were supposed to be in the library with _Calisto_," Gary said drawing out Calisto's name.

"I am, but she didn't come," Thom stomped over to a couch and flopped down on it.

"Aaaw shame, your perfect date was ruined," Gary teased.

"Yes, I can just imagine it. Thom reaches for a book at the same time as Calisto. Their hands brush. They look up into each other's eyes adoringly and-" Raoul didn't get to finish because a pillow flew across the room and hit him square in the face. He threw the pillow back at Thom, who caught it and jumped on Gary who was on the floor laughing manically.

"Shut up! It's not funny," Thom raged. "I wonder where she is?"

"I think I might know," Jonathan said thoughtfully. 

***

Thom's stare bore a hole in Jonathans back. Why was he even following his friend? They'd been walking for about half and hour and Jonathan still didn't seem to have a clue where they were going. Gary, conscientious as ever, had insisted that Jonathan go in disguise as it would not be safe for him in the city without a guard. Jonathan had then maintained that they all had to wear disguises if he did and the trio dressed as ordinary boys of the city not squires were all rather uncomfortable in clothes that did not fit correctly.  

Gary and Raoul were walking some distance behind Thom. They looked irritated and he could hear them muttering things best not repeated and dragging their feet. 

He walked faster and caught up to Jonathan. 

"Where are we going?" Thom asked. 

Jonathan ignored him and instead turned to a man walking next to him, "Excuse me?" he said politely. 

The man turned to him with a look of disgust, "What?"

"I was just wondering if you knew where the Dancing Dove is?" Jonathan asked even more politely. 

Thom rolled his eyes and hissed, "Why didn't you ask for directions before?"

Jonathan ignored him again and looked inquiringly at the man who sniffed and pointed to an inn across the road. 

"Are we there yet?" Gary and Raoul whined, catching up to them. 

"Oh, come on," Jonathan said grumpily and walked across the street and into the inn. Thom, Gary and Raoul right behind him.

***

Alanna had really gotten into the game and didn't even notice Thom, Jonathan, Gary and Raoul walk into the inn until they were halfway across the room. She quickly grabbed George, pushed him under the table and warned him not to make a sound when he protested. 

"Alanna what are you doing in here?" Thom asked when they arrived at the girls' table.

"Oh, we just came to the city to do a little shopping, I got some really good bargains, and afterwards we were so tired we had to stop of to have a little drink of water. Though I must say this place is rather odious," Alanna said in a posh, shrill voice.

Thom would have probably fallen for the act if Calisto hadn't spoiled it as usual. 

She started to giggle uncontrollably, "Odious. What a funny word Alanna."

Thom looked at them suspiciously leaned over and picked up Alanna's drink, "This isn't water, its ale!" he cried accusingly.

"Is it really?! I had no idea! Let me taste to make sure." Alanna reached for her cup but Thom pulled it out of her reach. George who was still under the table snorted and Alanna pulled her foot back and booted him in the side.

"Ouch!" he yelled jumping up and hitting his head on the table. 

Thom leaned over and picked up the edge of the tablecloth. 

"Oh, don't mind me just washing the floor," George slurred, pulling the edge of the tablecloth back down.

This set Calisto off again, "Good one George, 'Washing the floor,'" she giggled hysterically.

Alanna glared at her, "I'm surrounded by idiots," she sighed knowing there was no way to keep her brother from finding out what they had been doing.

"I'm not an idiot," George said indignantly, crawling out from his hiding place. He also realised that they'd been caught and it was no use, besides he didn't want to get kicked again. He saw the prince and was about to bow but Jonathan shook his head furiously.

"Well, you might not be an idiot but explain her," Alanna pointed at Calisto who seemed to be giggling at some private joke.

"She sucks at cards," George said simply. He winced and rubbed his side gingerly.

"You, kick really hard," he moaned, sitting down.

"True," Alanna grinned, then caught Thom's eye. "Oh, right. Introductions." She turned to George, "George this is my brother Thom-" she said pointing to Thom George put out his hand but Thom was still glaring at them so he removed it quickly and nodded instead. "You know Jonathan already and lastly we have Raoul and Jonathan's cousin Gary." The men greeted each other.

"So, what are you doing here?" Alanna inquired.

"We were looking for you as a matter of fact," Thom said frostily.

"Why?" Alanna raised her eyebrows.

"Because Calisto missed their _date,_" Gary and Raoul said simultaneously.

"I was just wondering where you were," Thom said while elbowing them.

"I was here playing cards," Alanna said.

"I was also playing cards," Calisto piped up. 

"No, you've been losing at cards and getting drunk too early, as always," Alanna said. 

"What about you?" Calisto pouted. "You're really drunk too."

"Well I have a right to be. We were on our fifth pitcher of ale," Alanna grinned, "George is also drunk."  
"Am not," George said in a disgruntled voice. He looked blurrily up at Alanna who was sitting across the table from him, "Have I told you that I've never seen eyes like yours before? Purple is a beautiful colour."

"They're not purple. They're violet," Alanna said indignantly. 

"No, they're light purple," Calisto put in.

"Violet and light purple are the same colour!!" Alanna screamed.

"Okay, okay," Calisto said grumpily as she tried to get out off her chair but ended up nearly falling over. 

George caught her. "Maybe you should go lie down," he said looking concerned as he held her in his arms.

"Okay," she grinned. "Don't worry I already know the way to your room George," she added letting go of him.  

Alanna looked over at her brother as Calisto disappeared through a door next to the fireplace. He had a peculiar look on his face. Interesting. A long silence passed over them.  George tried to make small talk.

"We should go before someone notices Jonathan. It isn't safe for him to be here," Thom said suddenly. "Could you go get Calisto?" he asked George.

"Oh, don't worry Thom. I also know where George's room is," Alanna said brightly. Thom looked decidedly irritated. 

Alanna scampered through the door and up the stairs to George's room laughing. She went inside grabbed Calisto by the arm and pulled her back down the stairs and out towards Thom.

"Alanna don't. I feel sick," Calisto moaned.

"You had to tell me that?" Alanna placed a hand over her mouth and rushed to the door Calisto behind her.

***

Alanna sat up in bed and looked around dazedly. The events of earlier came flooding back. She remembered getting really drunk. That would explain her pounding headache. She also remembered vomiting and Thom and his friends practically carrying them back to their rooms. She got up and walked into Calisto's room. She hoped her friend had a hangover remedy. Calisto was still asleep so Alanna got onto her bed and started jumping up and down. Calisto sat up holding her head. 

"Alanna. What are you doing?" she groaned.

"Trying to wake you up," Alanna got of the bed and looked at her friend. She seemed to be worse off. 

"This is all your fault, you shouldn't have suggested we play that game."

"What do you want?" Calisto asked.

"Some hangover remedy. Though it seems like you need it more than me," Alanna looked at her concerned, "You got really drunk didn't you."

"Of course I got really drunk," Calisto said irritably. "I'm the one who sucks at cards unlike you Miss Cheerful." 

"Touchy!!" Alanna grinned, "Just give me the headache remedy. We have to get ready for the ball tonight."

"What?" Calisto looked horrified. "Did you just suggest we start getting ready for a ball?" 

"Yes. We need to take extra time and effort because of those new Lords," Alanna said knowing Calisto would get the wrong idea.

Calisto stared at her disbelievingly

"Are you still drunk?" she asked cautiously.

"No," Alanna tried not to smile.

"Why do we need to take extra time and effort because of those Lords?" Calisto asked uncertainly. 

"Well, since they don't know us like the rest of the Lords, who have realised that they shouldn't come within ten metres radius of us, we have to make ourselves really unapproachable. Why? What did you think?" Alanna asked grinning.

"Never mind," Calisto got out of bed walked over to her cupboard and drew out a bottle and two cups. She poured some of the liquid into the cups and handed one to Alanna. Alanna looked at the vomit coloured substance inside and sniffed apprehensively. It smelt all right. She raised the glass slowly saying a silent prayer, downed whatever was inside it and gagged. Now she knew why she hated drinking.

"Ugh! What was that?" she asked Calisto who was making a face that was probably similar to hers right then. 

"I can't remember what I put in it and even if I did remember you probably wouldn't want to know but your headache is gone, isn't it?" Calisto looked at her inquiringly.

"Yes," Alanna mumbled, "Come on lets go make ourselves look exceptionally ugly."

***

An hour later Alanna and Calisto stared at themselves in a full-length mirror, that Calisto had conjured, in satisfaction. They had gone all out this time and used every one of their emergency supplies. They had even gone as far as wearing pink, frilly dresses with huge pink bows in their hair that looked horrendous with their colouring. They had put their makeup on without looking in the mirror and now stared at their faces in awe. They were just smudging their makeup a little more when Thom walked in. He stared at them in horror for a moment before he finally spoke.

"Um…you two look………interesting," he said in a strangled voice before clearing his throat.

"Thanks Thom. It took us an hour to get ready. We really tried to look our best," Alanna said brightly.

Thom's face fell and Alanna knew he wouldn't say anything about their appearance. He was a good brother, she thought smiling, which also meant he was very easy to manipulate. Thom waved his hands at them and said, "Let's go!"

Alanna and Calisto followed Thom to the hall arm in arm. As they reached the people lined up at the door and waiting to enter they grinned evilly at each other anticipating the looks of horror they would soon be receiving. But instead of staring at them in repulsion, the Lords stared at them in admiration and the Ladies with envy. Alanna and Calisto looked at each other surprised. What was going on with these people? They turned and made their way to a mirror mounted on the wall near them and gaped. They looked perfect. What happened to their pink dresses and bows, their untidy hair and smudged make up? Alanna now wore an elegant navy blue dress and Calisto a forest green one, their makeup was flawless and looked natural and their hair was tied back by matching silver hair clips. Alanna spotted Thom in the mirror. He was standing behind them grinning.

"What have you done?" she asked, turning, nauseated by her appearance.

"Me?" he asked in mock surprise. "I haven't done anything."

Alanna looked at him disbelievingly. He had obviously placed a spell on them to change their appearances. Alanna was about to turn and run back to her room but the line of people in front of them had depleted and their names were already being announced. Thom caught them each by the arm and dragged them down the stairs and into the ballroom.

"Thom you don't understand. You can't do this," Alanna protested yanking her arm out of his. She turned to Calisto, "Can't you fix it?" she asked desperately. 

"Of course I can," Calisto said grinning. She lifted her hand pointed it at Alanna and muttered a spell.

Alanna looked in the mirror behind them. She still looked perfect. She turned to Calisto whose grin had faded. Calisto raised her hand and muttered something again. 

Thom stood looking over her shoulder grinning, "Looks like your spells aren't working," he said happily.

"What?" Calisto looked lost.

"A shame really. I guess you've lost you touch," Thom went on patronisingly.

"Oh, be quiet," Calisto said angrily and raised her arm there was a flash and then…nothing, their dresses looked the same. Thom's grin widened.

"Since you're already here, you might as well enjoy yourselves and dance," Thom said and was moving towards Calisto when two Lords approached them.

"May we have the honour of dancing with such fine Ladies?" they said and held out their arms.  

"Why of course," Calisto said brightly while glaring at Thom. "You did say that we should enjoy ourselves, didn't you Thom?"

"Huh?" Alanna was confused. 

Calisto took the man on the right's outstretched hand. Alanna took the man on the lefts hand still puzzled. Weren't they supposed to be trying to ward off Lords?

***

After being forced to dance almost every dance and listen to Lord Dick and Lord Harry's boring voices all night long, Alanna and Calisto were getting desperate. No matter what they said they couldn't get rid of the two Lords. Calisto leaned over to her still smiling at the Lords and hissed between her teeth, "I'm sick and tired of Thom, Dick and Harry." {A/N I know, I know. It's a cheap joke. I couldn't help myself}

"This is all your fault," Alanna hissed back.

"We need to get rid of them," Calisto said. 

Alanna's hands balled into fists as she pretended to laugh at one of their stupid jokes. She never thought she'd ever pretend to laugh at someone's joke.

Alanna around the ballroom with eyes slightly glazed as she tried to tune out Lord Harry's nasal while. She recognised a familiar face, someone she hadn't seen since childhood, Tristan of Helmsbury whose lands were adjacent to Trebond. He caught her gaze and nodded to her. Alanna curtsied in reply and was about to excuse herself and Calisto, almost certain that conversation with Tristan would be more interesting than the self praise of the Lord Harry when he suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor. Alanna noticed that Lord Dick had done the same with Calisto.

"The only way we could get rid of them is by burning down this hall," Alanna muttered to Calisto irritably after the dance.

"Alanna that's a brilliant idea," Calisto grinned.

"What? I was joking!" Alanna said alarmed.

Calisto's grin widened, "We won't really set it on fire. We'll just make an illusion of the fire. There might be a slight problem; Thom cast some sort of spell to prevent me from using my Gift. I can feel it wearing off now, though. I'm sure I'll be able to cast."

Alanna looked at Dick and Harry. She was desperate, "Fine."

Somehow she knew she was going to regret this she thought as she watched Calisto mutter something. 

"Ok, go," Calisto whispered. 

"Fire!" they screamed and ran all the way across the room and out the door.  Grinning at each other they waited for the shrieks of fear and horror. They stood outside the door and waited and waited. Eventually people began to slowly emerge from the hall, they were muttering to one another and some were shaking their heads but none seemed exceptionally concerned. Perplexed, Alanna and Calisto walked back into the room. Alanna looked around in disbelief.

She rounded on Calisto furiously, "Green fire!" she shrieked.

"I didn't mean to!," Calisto looked down at the floor, "Its Thom's fault, my Gift is all wacky!"

***

 {A/N Next week on GU: a big surprise for Alanna}


	8. chapter 8

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toy box and play with them once in a while.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and even those who appreciate silently (say hi, I don't bite!). 

Imogenhm, maria, wackywierdo, Lizzy : thanks.

Tenshichild: lets just say Thom is very suspicious and imaginative so I don't even want to think about what he thought the girls were doing in George's room ;-)

LuthienRhiannonCat5: You'll just have to wait and see about the pairing. And it might even be A/somebody besides Jon and George!!

Mango Sam & Caitlyn: yes, the pranks are mostly at an end. There is one prank in this chapter although it doesn't get the intended reaction.  

Caitlyn, how did you guess? One of your suggestions are correct but you'll have to wait and see which one.

Chapter eight 

Alanna and Calisto sat, on a couch in a spare room at the palace, staring up at Thom apprehensively. Thom stopped pacing and turned to them with a sigh. 

"You two have acted like immature little brats since you arrived at the palace and I might have let it slide before because it did no harm but this time it was in front of the whole palace including the King and Queen. You ruined a perfectly good ball for nothing," Thom said stonily. "I'm not trying to spoil your fun or be a party pooper. I enjoy a good prank myself once in a while but sometimes I wonder if you ever think about the repercussions of your actions. Calisto, you knew that your gift wasn't working properly, what if instead of making a green fire you made a real one? People could have been hurt. Besides all that the two of you made fools of yourselves."

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't changed our dresses and blocked my gift," Calisto blurted before Alanna could stop her.

"So, your totally irresponsible and childish actions are my fault, are they?" Thom was furious.

"Ye- " Alanna placed her hand over Calisto's mouth before she could continue. 

"This is the fault of all of us," Alanna said. "Your fault Thom for changing our outfits, your fault Calisto for letting it get to you and accepting the Lords offer to dance so you could annoy Thom and my fault for putting the idea to set fire to hall into your head."

Thom opened his mouth then closed it and stormed out of the room. When he was gone Alanna removed her hand from Calisto's mouth. They sat in silence until finally Calisto got up and held her hand out to help Alanna out of her chair.

"Well at least we got rid of the Lords. They were the only ones dumb enough to fall for the fire," Calisto said grinning. Alanna laughed weakly and they made their way back to their rooms tiredly.

***

Alanna yawned and turned over. She wondered what time it was. She should probably get up, as she hadn't trained for days. She stretched, yawned again and pushed the covers of her but made no effort to get up. She was just being lazy. Alanna groaned and got out of bed but didn't start training. Instead she walked over to her trunk and drew out a pair of knitting needles and the wool she had started using yesterday. She had decided to apologise to Thom by making him a jersey. Unfortunately on her first attempt she had gotten herself tangled in the wool and her second attempt had looked somewhat like a tea cosy that had been run over by a carriage…several times. She had resorted to using her gift after a little encouragement from Calisto who showed her the right spell. She set the needles to work using the incantation Calisto had taught her. She stood and watched the needles moving as if by ghost hands for a moment, the jersey was almost done, and then began to train. After a few minutes the needles stopped their work and Alanna went over to check the overall result. She looked at it with approval. It was beautiful. She hadn't known she was so good. She went back to training but was interrupted almost immediately by Calisto who came barging into the room. She walked straight over to her jersey and began to inspect it thoroughly. 

"What are you doing?" Alanna asked.

"Well, your Gift isn't as good as mine and I was just checking to see if you'd done the spell right," Calisto said haughtily.

"Have you been spending time with Delia because you sound amazingly like her right now?" Alanna raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" Calisto asked eyes widening with happiness.

"Yes?" Alanna said uncertainly. 

"Great!" Calisto enthused.

"Um…why is it great that you sound like Delia?" Alanna knew Calisto was a little insane but she hadn't known it was this bad. 

"Think how much fun it would be to kidnap her and take her place," Calisto beamed, "We could make her do really weird things. Like eat nothing but carrots and dress only in yellow. Everyone will think she's gone crazy. Well, crazier anyway."

"No Calisto," Alanna said slowly, "We aren't going to kidnap anyone. Thom was right we have to grow up. A prank once in a while doesn't hurt anyone but a prank every day gets boring."

Calisto stared at Alanna. She opened her mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. Alanna walked over to her friend and took the jersey out of her hand.

"Thank you for checking to see that the stitches were all done right. Now I'm going to go give this to Thom. You can either choose to come along or stand there and continue to gape like an idiot," Alanna walked out the door. 

After a few moments Calisto appeared at her side but she remained silent. They reached Thom's room and Alanna put her hand on the doorknob before screaming, "You better be decent and if you aren't hide under the covers or something. I'm coming inside!" 

Alanna and Calisto burst into the room. Thom was standing in the middle of the room in only a pair of pants, he stared at them shocked. Calisto coughed. Alanna looked over at her and rolled her eyes, Calisto was looking at the floor and blushing. Thom pulled on a shirt and looked at them angrily. 

"Yes?" he asked. 

Alanna stepped forward and looked at her brother solemnly, "I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about last night and to give you this," she held out the jersey for him.

Thom smiled took the jersey from her and enveloped her in a hug, "Thanks," he said drawing away. He put the jersey on turned to look at himself in the mirror. 

"It's wonderful," Thom looked really touched. "Lets go down to breakfast," he suggested. 

Alanna knew that this was a peace offering and she nodded happily, glad that they were on speaking terms again.  Just as they reached the door Thom made a strange noise. Alanna turned towards him curiously. The jersey, which had fit his frame perfectly, began to shrink. His hands tugged at the hem as he struggled to remove it.  As the jersey became tighter Thom began to panic. He fell to the floor still struggling valiantly to get the jersey of. It was then that Calisto intervened, waving her hands and causing the jersey to disappear. Thom's expression changed to one of fury and he just stood where he was, glaring, obviously expecting an explanation. 

Alanna instantly realised that the spell Calisto had given her to create the jersey must have had a shrinking element hidden in it. 

She turned to Calisto furious, "After everything I told you!" she shook her head and stormed out the door.

***

Calisto walked over to the bed and sat down, burying her head in her hands. After awhile she sighed and looked up at Thom. He looked as if he was going to start another one of his lectures and Calisto quickly interrupted him.

"Please don't be mad at me again, Thom. It's bad enough Alanna is," she looked at him with huge puppy-dog eyes.

"How can I be angry at you when you're looking at me like that? I can't resist those eyes," Thom grinned. (A/N Is he flirting?! :P)

Calisto looked down at the ground, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Actually I've been thinking about you a lot lately," Thom went on, Calisto raised her head to look up at him expectantly. 

"It's weird, at first you annoyed me but I now that I've gotten to know you…"

"Yes?" Calisto asked expectantly a smile on her face.

"You feel just like another sister to me," Thom was pacing the room while he said this so he didn't notice the murderous glare Calisto gave him. She quickly rearranged her features to that of curiosity when he turned back to her. "You're not like any of the other Ladies, you're actually quite fun to be around."

"I feel the same way, Thom," Calisto said then she added slyly, "You're just like a sister to me too!" 

***

Alanna finished another series of complicated kicks and punches and sat on her bed. She wished that she hadn't screamed at Calisto. She had been upset because of the prank but they had just gotten back onto friendly terms and she hoped that she hadn't ruined that. She flopped back exhausted. Maybe she'd had enough practice for one day. She closed her eyes and was nearing sleep when she heard a knock on her door. Her eyes opened wide and she shot out of bed. There was a servant at the door and she looked at him curiously. He bowed and handed her two letters. Alanna smiled happily. One was from her father who she hadn't heard from since she moved to the Palace and she couldn't recognise who the other was from. 

She opened the letter that wasn't from her father first.

**_Alanna_**

****

**_How are you? Adjusting to Palace life. Hope you have continued with your training. I'll be at the Palace soon to check up on you so you'd better be prepared._**

**_Yours _**

**_An old friend_**

****

Alanna smiled recognising the handwriting; glad that she would soon be seeing a familiar face. She always enjoyed visits from the Shang warrior who had trained her although she had no doubt that there were other, more important reasons for his trip to Tortall besides wanting to see her. She put the letter from Calan aside and reached for the one from her father.

****

****

**_My Dearest Daughter_**

****

**_I apologise for not having written sooner. I hope that this letter finds you well and that you have enjoyed your stay at the palace so far.  I have no doubt that you have been behaving with decorum as befits a young lady of your position in society and that you have brought honour to our family name. I have some news that I hope you will accept gracefully. In my dealings with our neighbour, the young Lord Helmsbury, I have come to realise that he is a man of honour and integrity with a family as well established as ours.  He is also seeking a bride and since I have had no word from your brother of any forthcoming suitors at the palace I decided to offer him your hand in marriage. He has accepted my offer to have you as his fiancé and will be arriving at the palace soon to meet you. This engagement will only strengthen the relationship between our too lands and will do much to bring harmony to our peoples. _**

****

**_Sincerely_**

Your father 

****

Alanna read and reread the letter, her eyes boring holes into it willing the words to disappear. Her happiness at finally getting something from her father had evaporated. She stared at the word _fianc_. She was betrothed! But how? Why? Didn't she even get a choice? She remembered seeing Tristan at the ball but had never imagined that this might be the reason he was visiting the palace. Although Tristan of Helmsbury had lived so close she had never spent much time with him when she was growing up, as he was a few years older than her. She didn't even know him.

Alanna got of the bed, changed quickly and ran out the room. She had to find Calisto. There must be something she could do about this situation but she was too upset to think clearly. She was positive that once she told Calisto, her friend would come up with a plan. The first place she checked was the library but that was empty. She decided to search likely places where Calisto would be. The kitchen, her next choice, was brimming with people but they were all cooks. The grounds were empty but for a few squires who were practicing. She even snuck into the medical storerooms because she knew Calisto sometimes 'borrowed' stuff from there to practice her magic, but Alanna couldn't find her anywhere. She thought of doing a locator spell but it would take too much of an effort. If Calisto didn't want to be found that was fine. She was probably with Thom again Alanna though angrily. She began to walk back to her room dejectedly. Halfway there she turned around, she wasn't going to sit on her bed crying and wallowing in her own self-pity like some Lady. She began to walk not knowing or caring where she was going as long as she didn't have to think. If she didn't think about getting married she didn't have to accept the fact that she was getting married. Alanna stopped and looked up. Why did she always seem to end up here? She pushed open the door and stepped into the Dancing Dove like she had so many other times. But this time she didn't head immediately towards George. She ordered the strongest ale available.  Just as she was about to take a sip George interrupted her, "You really shouldn't drink that," he said taking the glass out of her hands.

Alanna didn't notice at all just sat there looking at nothing. George looked at her face and frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked concernedly. 

Alanna said nothing she didn't even acknowledge that he said something. George waved his hand in front of her face. She didn't move. It was as if he wasn't there. He called her name and shook her slightly. Still nothing. He got up and did a little jig in front of her. She didn't laugh or even glance at him. He was considering getting on the table and singing her a song when he saw the piece of paper clasped tightly in her hand. He eased it out and read it eyes growing wide. 

"You're getting married!" 

***

{A/N There's a change atmosphere from this chapter on, an actual plot appears (at least I hope it does).

Things are getting more serious. I thought that Alanna and Calisto had to at least be made to think about the consequences of their pranks. Its all fun and games until you accidentally make someone inflate and bounce around the room…actually that would be fun too…argh! You know what I mean!!

Next chapter: How is George going to react to Alanna's news? Will he freak out, or maybe he won't care at all…

We meet Alanna's intended, Tristan, who we have seen fleetingly in the last chapter. Thom talks about his feelings for Calisto!}


	9. chap 9

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

Keladry of Queenscove: short or long, the review's appreciated.

SilverKnight7: Thank you

Tenshichild: You're reading this for the 2nd time? If you want I can e-mail you the last chapter.  Just review and tell me if you want me to, this goes for everyone else whose just hanging around waiting for the last chapter.

maria: thanks

someone. sorta: the pairing is a secret, you'll have to wait and see

PhyscoLioness13: I'm glad you like it

Mango Sam: I'm glad you agree about the pranks. Was Caitlyn happy that she guessed right?

LuthienRhiannonCat5: thanks for another nice review.

This chapter is kinda short. But it's different. Not one single prank! Tell me what you think.

Chapter 9

"You're getting married!"

This comment seemed to finally snap Alanna out of her daydream. She looked at George who had the letter in his hand and a shocked expression on his face, then at the people from his court who had heard and had equally shocked expressions. They had all gotten to know her and knew how she felt about marriage.

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth.

"You okay?" George asked uncertainly.

"No, I never wanted to get married," she sighed.

"What are you going to do about it?" George asked, looking uncomfortable and obviously unsure of how to react.

"There's nothing I can do," she sniffed sadly.

"Do you want to go train?" George offered helpfully. "It will take your mind of everything."   

"What's the point," she sighed again then smiled. "Sorry, I'm being all depressed. I'll just go. I should get ready for _his _arrival anyway."

George looked like he was going to stop her but restrained himself, "Fine, I'll see you later."

"Hopefully I'll still be unmarried," she smiled weakly and walked away slowly.

Alanna walked into her room and immediately spotted the note lying on her bed. She considered not opening but it might be important. It was from Thom.

**_Dear Alanna_**

****

**_I got a letter from father explaining the situation. Lord Tristan's arrived and he wishes to meet you in the rose garden at noon. Cheer up. I'm sure everything's going to be all right._**

****

**_Love your brother_**

**_Thom _**

****

She shouldn't have opened it. She sighed, she seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and walked to her cupboard to get ready. She threw on a green dress and tied her hair back not bothering with makeup or jewellery. She wasn't going all out with her appearance. There was still some time before she had to meet Tristan. Alanna flopped down on the bed careless of the wrinkles that it would create on her gown. For a second she wished that she had stayed at the Inn to practice with George. It would at least have taken her mind of her current predicament for a short time.  But that would have been pointless. All her years of hard work and struggle learning how to fight had been for nothing. She might as well face the fact that she was never going to be a warrior, never going to have the wild adventures she has dreamed of as a child. Instead of living her dreams, she would be living out her nightmares. She was going to be married at sixteen to a man who would probably never allow her to do the things that made her happy. She considered simply running away but instantly rejected the idea, knowing that it would cowardly and that she could never live without seeing her brother and her friends. A part of her had always believed that she would a find some sort of way to get out of this situation, although she had never had a clear idea how, divine intervention perhaps?

Alanna snorted with laughter. What was wrong with her? She hadn't felt this miserable since she had first been sent to the convent.  Feeling like this was not a part of her character and she remembered the promise she had made to herself when she was younger, to always try to do what made her happy. She couldn't openly disobey her father but there must be some way to convince Lord Tristan that he did not want to marry her. She had already wasted the entire morning cursing her fate, now she had to stop moping around and make a plan.  And when you need to make a plan, you need Calisto. A smile crossed her face as she searched her room for a small mirror. Saying the proper incantation she looked into the mirror whose surface was changing to show an image of a girl walking down a corridor. Alanna was in luck and her smile became even wider as she realised Calisto was walking down the corridor towards her room. 

While she waited for her friend to arrive Alanna thought back on her childhood. Tristan used to visit Alanna's home whenever their fathers met to discuss new laws and treaties. He was a few years older then Thom and Alanna and had always been a very polite and reserved boy. His father had instilled in him a strong sense of responsibility for his people and that he should always be seen as a proper young lord. She remembered how fed up she used to get with him whenever he refused to do anything that would get them into the slightest bit of trouble. He would still be training to be knight right now if it wasn't for his father's death. Tristan had had to assume the responsibilities of a Lord at a very early age. Alanna guessed he was still as stiff and proper as ever.

Alanna's thoughts were interrupted when Calisto burst into the room.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you all morning." Calisto exclaimed.

"You've been looking for me? I've been looking for you!! Anyway that doesn't matter. I have a huge problem and I need your help…" just as Alanna started to explain the situation the place bell tolled twelve times.  She was going to be late. Grabbing Calisto's arm Alanna pulled her into the corridor and began running in the direction of the gardens.

"What's going on? Where are we going?" Calisto panted, "Could we maybe slow down, I'm losing feeling in my feet?"

"We are going to meet my fiancé."

"What? Are you joking? This isn't funny," Calisto gasped.

"I'm not joking, and I can prove it." Alanna said and began walking faster.

They turned a corridor and Alanna pushed open the door that led to the palace gardens. Standing with his back to them gazing into a fountain was Tristan. This was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with, Alanna thought.

Seeming to sense their presence Tristan turned around. He looked different. His light blonde hair had not darkened since childhood but whereas previously they had been the same height he now towered over her and was lightly muscled.

Stepping forward Alanna said, "Lord Tristan, it's nice to meet you again," turning to her friend she said, "Calisto, this is Lord Tristan of Helmsbury, my fiancé."

"A chaperone, Alanna? Do you really think that's necessary? After all, we're old friends," Tristan drawled.

"Oh but Tristan, I remember so well how you like things to be done in a manner that is proper and socially acceptable. The way you asked my father for my hand in marriage BEFORE EVEN ASKING ME just proves it." Alanna answered sharply.

Silence descended on the group. Tristan did not appear surprised at Alanna's hostility but did not seem to know how to continue. Calisto was just confused and Alanna glared angrily at the ground as if silently ordering it to open up and swallow her.

Unable to stand the silence any long Calisto said, "So, has anyone heard the joke about the Mage, the Warlord and the Priestess?"

"No," Tristan said bluntly.

"Oh well," Calisto sighed, "neither did I."

"Calisto, I'm going to be frank. I need to speak with Alanna privately. Since you're her best friend you'll probably hear _all _about it later."

"I'm not leaving her alone with you," Calisto said.

"I promise, nothing will happen to her," Tristan said smoothly, "besides we both know that Alanna can defend herself perfectly well."

"What? How do you know I can fight? Not even Thom knows that," Alanna demanded.

"I'll tell you once _she _leaves," he replied, nodding towards Calisto.

"I already said I wasn't going to leave. I may not know exactly what's going but I do realize that Alanna needs me and I'm going to be here for her."

"The way you've been there for the last few weeks? Been a little distracted by a certain red-headed boy, haven't you?" Tristan mocked.

"I ought to-,"Calisto threatened.

"Going to do one of your little tricks on me?" he scoffed.

"Tricks!" Calisto exclaimed, "I'll show you a trick!"

Before she could do anything drastic Alanna interrupted her, "Calisto, leave!"

"But- ,"

"I'll be fine. Just go."

Calisto looked like she was about to protest but seeing the determined look on Alanna's face she turned to leave.

"And don't even think about eavesdropping. Trust me, I'll know." Tristan called after her.

Alanna looked directly into Tristan's grey-green eyes and said severely, "Explain."

"Why don't we sit down?" Tristan pointed to a bench that stood under the shade of an oak tree.

Alanna shook her head stubbornly and continued, "How do you know all those things about us. My fighting, Calisto's magic, you even seem to know that Calisto and I haven't been as close lately. I don't even think that _she's_ realised that."

"I'm not the only one with spies at the palace."

"Now you know about George too?" she asked incredulously.

"The King of Thieves? Yes, I know about him. Not exactly a fit companion for a Lady, is he?" Tristan asked.

"Jealous?"

"I'd only be jealous if I actually loved you."

"Then why do you want to marry me?" Alanna almost shouted.

"Please, lets sit down. This may take a while." Tristan moved towards the bench.

Reluctantly Alanna followed him. Once they were seated Tristan stared at the ground, his hair falling into his eyes. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts. Eventually he began to speak, "Like I said before, we are old friends and I'm sure you know exactly what type of person I am. You probably wouldn't believe me for a second if I told you that I've had a crush on you since we were children and that it has bloomed into undying love now that I've seen you again. So I will just give you my reasons for wanting a wife, and why I chose you in particular."

He looked sideways at Alanna, as if waiting for a reaction but she just stared blankly into the distance.

Sighing, he continued, "I'm going to turn twenty-one this year and I have to choose a bride soon. My responsibility is to my people and they need a Lady. But I'm sure you're met the Ladies at court. I don't particularly need or even want a wife who can only organise parties and who will waste the money that should be used to help my subjects on frivolous things like dresses. I need a wife who is intelligent and who will care for my people as much as I do. We both know that the Scanran's are trying to increase their borders and I expect that I will be called to battle often, I need someone smart enough to govern my people in my place. Alanna, I think that you're that woman."

Tristan stopped, he seemed to waiting for Alanna to say something.

"You still haven't explained how you knew all that stuff about me," she said softly.

"A few months ago I asked a friend to-… how do I say this? I asked him to keep an eye open for me. He mentioned you in a letter, something about talking dummies. I don't think he meant you as an actual option, but it made me remember the time we spent together as children. I had one of the servants follow you around," Tristan had the grace to blush for doing something so childish but quickly added, "We were friends back then, weren't we? We can be friends again, even more, we can be _equal _partners, can't we?"

"Do I even have a choice?" Alanna asked bitterly.

"Of course you do. If you don't want to marry me I'll tell your father that I've changed my mind. I'll make sure he doesn't blame you."

Though she tried, Alanna could not hide the smile that crept across her face as she saw a way out of the whole mess.

Noticing it, Tristan frowned, "Seriously Alanna. I want you to actually think about my offer. I don't want a wife you can dance and sew and sing," he exclaimed, "I want someone who will work beside me, fight beside me."

"Fight?" Alanna couldn't help asking.

"Yes, I said fight," Tristan said, "I know that you're very talented and if you can protect my people you can spend the whole day bruising your skin by training. Besides, under all that bulky armour no one will even realise that you're a women. I want you to really think about this. Take as much time as you need."

Standing suddenly he added softly, "I know that I'm not offering you love. But is that what you really want?" With that he turned and walked in the direction of the palace, leaving Alanna staring thoughtfully after him.

NEXT chapter: New characters arrive. One that you know, one that you don't.

Alanna thinks about Tristan's offer.

One tiny prank, since everyone seems to like them.


	10. chapter 10

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

There was a pretty mixed response to Tristan. Some of you liked him, some of you didn't.

Just a quick note. DO NOT GO TO MY WEBPAGE. It doesn't work properly and I've stopped putting fics there.

maria: Thank you. Do you not like Tristan because Alanna is almost being forced to marry him or because you don't like his personality?

vera: I personally don't like him that much either.

Lady Leah of Chaos: short and sweet msg. Thank you.

emikae: I've stopped putting it up on the webpage. I'll be posting one chapter a week on fanfiction.net . Only three more to go.

Anonymous miss: I'm glad you think its great.

Tenshichild: Thanks for your two really, really nice reviews. There are some changes in this chapter to last time.

AJ 4EVA: thank you. I'm glad you think it's amazing, I will keep it up.

LadybugJess: Sorry, you'll find out more about Calisto and Thom in the next chapter.

MangoSam: I think maybe you'll be able to rule out one of the possible parings at the end of this chapter. But I'm not revealing the real pairing until the end.

Imogenhm: I'm happy you agree with me about the pranks.

Chapter 10

Alanna woke when Calisto slammed open the door joining their rooms the next morning. She sat up and stared at her friend, startled. Calisto was pacing up and down in front of her bed. Alanna stayed silent. She knew better than to interrupt Calisto when something was bothering her and something was definitely bothering her friend. Calisto stopped pacing and whirled around to face Alanna suddenly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Calisto said earnestly.

Alanna frowned, what was she going on about know?

"When Tristan asked me to leave yesterday…I didn't. I stayed and I eavesdropped. He didn't seem to notice like he said he would. But that's not the point. The point is…I heard you say that we were…we weren't close anymore," Calisto rung her hands nervously, "What did you mean? Have I done something?"

"I…" Alanna trailed of.

"Yes?" Calisto's eyes widened. "I won't be mad, honest."

"I miss my friend, is all," Alanna looked up into Calisto's eyes for the first time. They showed hurt and confusion. "You haven't really been around lately have you?"

"I…I guess not," Calisto said uncertainly.

"I just got jealous of you spending all your time with Thom. I know I shouldn't be jealous because you're still there for me…most of the time," Alanna sighed. This was awkward, in all the time they had been friends Calisto and her hadn't really had a serious heart to heart.

"Oh…I didn't think you cared that much. I mean you were always going to see George and I thought you liked spending time away from me," Calisto grinned. "I know I can be real hard to live with."

"You're telling me," Alanna grinned and ducked as Calisto grabbed a pillow that had somehow found it's way over to the end of the bed and hurled it at her head.

"So are we friends again? I pwomise I won't ever abandon you again," Calisto said babyishly but Alanna saw the nervousness in her face.

Alanna smiled, "I pwomise too."

"Do you want to go to the inn to celebrate," Calisto grinned. "Annoying George always makes life happier.

Alanna agreed, jumping hurriedly out of bed.

Thom had caught Alanna and Calisto sneaking out to meet George and had insisted on coming along. Raoul, Gary and Jonathan had decided to tag along, in disguise, and now they all sat around a table at the Three Broomsticks with George. Calisto and Alanna were whispering quietly snickering at intervals and looking at the boys who sat glaring at George. Alanna got up and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Thom called after her not looking up.

"To get the food," Alanna answered.

The boys, too caught up in their glaring match, didn't notice the fleeting grin she shared with Calisto. She returned a few seconds later carrying the seven plates which where precariously balanced on a tray.

"Eat up," she said cheerfully placing the trays before the boys. "It's the best in the house."

She sat down and began to eat enthusiastically. The boys stared in disgust at their bowls containing what looked like pigs brains. What they didn't know was that it was really stew on which Alanna had placed a glamour. They gazed in bewilderment at George, Calisto and Alanna who were attacking their meal with vigour.

George looked up at them puzzled, "Don't you like it? What? Not impeccable enough for your taste?"

Jonathan who as a prince often had to try strange food when visiting other countries smiled diplomatically, "Not at all," he said, ate a huge spoonful and frowned. He looked up at Alanna and raised an eyebrow questioningly. She grinned and winked. He grinned back and began eating just as vigorously as Alanna, Calisto and George.

"You should try this it's great," he said encouragingly.

Alanna's grin widened, as she was sure Raoul looked a little greener than usual and surely Thom wasn't that pale. It was Gary who finally spoke up.

"Um…isn't this a bit exotic for an inn?" he asked.

George gave him a funny look, "What? Stew? I know it might not be what you're used to at the palace. But exotic?"

A look of realisation dawned on Thom's face. "Stew?" Thom said dangerously. "Alanna, Calisto! Another prank? I thought you'd be more grown up."

"When are we ever grown up?" Alanna rolled her eyes.

"Anyway we're not at the palace. You can't take everything away from us," Calisto whined.

Thom sighed and they went back to their meal in silence. Once they were finished Raoul let out a great sigh of contentment, "That was great, George"

George and the boys had obviously decided that they liked each other after all and soon the conversation turned to horses. Alanna let the conversation pass over her as she sat playing with her food, deep in thought. Noticing her sombre mood Gary tried to draw her out by asking,  "So what was Tristan like?" he asked.

"Who cares what he's like? It's not like she's going to marry him anyway," Calisto said haughtily.

She was still upset about the way he'd talked about her Gift, which was something very precious to her.

"Well, actually…" Alanna started.

"You aren't seriously considering marriage are you?" Calisto asked astonished.

"I am considering it," Alanna responded. "What's the point? I'm going to have to get married someday."

"But…" Calisto trailed off.

"He knows about everything and he doesn't seem to mind so why should I?"

"Knows about everything?" Thom looked puzzled.

"Alanna turns into a monster every month," George said matter of factly. "But then again, she's acts like a monster practically all the time."  Alanna punched George on the shoulder playfully.

Standing up suddenly Alanna began to walk out the room. Just as she reached the door she called over her shoulder, " Besides we'd make beautiful babies together. His blonde hair and my violet eyes…" 

George chocked on his ale and Thom spluttered. Grinning widely Alanna disappeared through the back door.

Deciding not to head straight for the palace Alanna headed towards the forest. She felt the need to walk in order to clear her head and think about things. She had only been partially joking when she'd told Calisto she was marrying Lord Tristan. He had posed a great offer, an offer that she'd probably never get again. How many Lords didn't mind if their wives were fighters? How many Lords wanted their wives to fight along side them and manage the house not just look pretty? The fact of the matter was she couldn't decide whether to marry him or not. But the proposal was looking more inviting by the minute. She couldn't stay at the palace forever and Thom would never let her leave unless she was married. She had the skill to slip away in the night but she'd never be able to come back and Calisto would certainly not forgive her for leaving her behind. Basically she was divided, a part of her rationalised that it was a good idea to marry Tristan, he'd sounded nice enough, and another part wanted to tell him no, Lady Alanna of Helmsbury didn't sound right somehow, and yet another part longed to just leave everything and run free. She sighed and sat down on a rock, the thoughts whirling around in her head were giving her a headache.

A few minutes later George walked into the clearing.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Alanna.

"Thinking," she muttered and turned away from him hoping he would take the hint and leave her alone.

A few minutes passed before Alanna realised he wasn't going to leave and said moodily, "I guess we could train."

 As she stood George said conversationally, "You know, if I had known you would break your pact with Calisto this easily, I would have proposed to you ages ago," a little smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Alanna frowned, "How can you joke around at a time like this?"

"Anyway, what are we doing today?" she asked grumpily.

"I dunno. I thought we'd test your skills though they're probably pathetic," George answered.

"You think you can beat me, do you?" Alanna scoffed.

"Blindfolded," George said simply.

"I think I'll take you up on that," Alanna said, conjuring a piece of cloth.

She waited while George tied it around his head muttering something about his big mouth. Alanna looked at him thought fully.

"George?" she asked head tilted slightly.

"Mmmhmm…" George asked turning around to face the tree next to him.

"Um…George turn a bit more," Alanna suppressed a giggle.

She rolled her eyes when he turned and faced another tree. "Yes?" he asked it.

"How are you supposed to fight me when you can't even follow my voice," Alanna walked over to George and turned him so he was facing her.

"I can fight you just fine wait and see," he said matter of factly.

He let his blindfold drop and got into fighting stance. Alanna grinned this was going to be like taking candy from a baby, she thought stepping forward to punch. George surprisingly enough manage to block it.

"First time lucky," Alanna scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"We'll see," George grinned.

Alanna waited a while and than kicked. The kick missed George because he had turned around and stepped forward punching the air. He straightened up looking confused and punched the air in front of him again. Alanna bent double, holding her knees and laughing silently. Her eyes were closed so she didn't see George turn around still looking puzzled and kick out. The kick landed on her shoulder and she fell back letting out a scream of surprise. George immediately threw back his blindfold and knelt by her side, concerned.

"Sorry. Are you ok? Didn't see you," he grinned "Obviously."

Alanna glared and stuck her tongue out at him.

George looked offended, "I said sorry," he said sniffing.

"Fine," Alanna glared. "Let's just get on with it."

She got to her feet rubbing her shoulder and waited while George put his blindfold back on. They both got in position.  She could see from his stance and the way his shoulders were tensed that all his concentration was focused on her. Which along with his lack of sight was probably why he didn't sense the cloaked figure that emerged from a behind a nearby bush. Almost faster then Alanna could see the stranger drew out a dagger and flung it at George before turning and running deeper into the forest.

For a moment Alanna stood frozen, taking in the situation with disbelief.

A thousand spells rushed through her mind, but which one? Her breath was coming fast and in her panic she couldn't decide. She felt her legs begin to move into a run without conscious decision and suddenly she was tackling George.

"That was unexpected," George said in her ear then in an annoyed voice, "I didn't know we wrestling."

"Somebody just tried to kill you!" Alanna said.

"I think you're going to have to bulk up a bit if you want to kill me by sitting on me, lass,"

"Not me! There was a person in the clearing and they just threw a dagger at you."

"What?" George pulled of his blindfold, abruptly pushed Alanna off him and stood up.

Noticing the dagger that had embedded itself in the tree behind him George walked over, leaving Alanna sitting in the dirt.

"Who's trying to kill you?" Alanna demanded, a little annoyed at being mishandled by George.

George who had been examining the dagger let out a relieved sigh.

"Nothing to worry about, lass. It was just Cole trying to kill me again…must be Tuesday."

"What? You know this person?"

"Yes, he's one of my thieves. One of my best, actually."

"But…but…he tried to kill you," Alanna spluttered.

"I know. He's not very good though. The silly bugger used one the dagger _I _gave him. He should have known I would recognise it. " George said.

"But…but…Why don't you have his ears removed or something?"

George clearly realised that Alanna would continue questioning him until he explained properly.

"In order to become the King of Thieves you have to assassinate the previous King. Most of my subjects are happy under my rule. Luckily for me the only one ambitious enough to try and get rid of me is Cole. So I doubt I'll be retiring anytime soon, he hasn't succeeded yet."

"He almost succeeded today!" Alanna said.

"I was blindfolded," George said a trifle defensively.

"You let your guard down."

"I knew you were here to protect me," George said in a breathy feminine voice and fluttered his eyelashes at her.

Glaring Alanna got back into a fighting stance, "Lets try again, shall we? Maybe you need this training more than me."

George snorted derisively and put the blindfold on before they faced each other. Alanna was about to punch George when Calisto arrived. She stood by a tree beckoning to Alanna. Alanna forgetting about George walked curiously over to her friend.

"What are you doing here?" Alanna asked frowning.

"I've got the most wonderful news," Calisto said bouncing up and down. "What?" Alanna looked at her intrigued.

"Guess who just arrived at the palace," Calisto could barely contain her excitement.

"Who?" Alanna asked inquisitively.

"Calan!" Calisto cried.

"What?" Alanna screeched surprised, she hadn't expected that.

"Come on," Calisto tugged at her sleeve.

"Hold on," Alanna said. "Let me tell George I'm going."

She turned around, "George?" she called but he didn't seem to hear her.

He must have tied his blindfold over his ears. She started walking towards him when she noticed he was heading straight for a tree.

"George, George watch out for that tree!"  (A/N George, George, George of the Jungle, Strong as he can be…) she shouted but it was too late.

George fell to the ground, blood spurting from his nose. She ran and knelt down next to him. She pulled his blindfold of and he opened his eyes slightly.

"I know I kicked you before but is that any reason to hit me so hard?" he asked pouting. Blood streamed from his nose but he didn't seem to notice, he must have hit his head hard. Alanna pulled a handkerchief for his pocket and held it to his nose. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"I's ok," his voice muffled by the cloth.

"Alanna! We need to go hurry," Calisto said urgently over her shoulder. "Hello George," she added.

George waved slightly. "Go on. I'll be fine," he said sitting up.

"You sure?" Alanna asked concernedly.

George wiped his nose with the corner of the handkerchief and said softly, "Yeah."

He looked up and frowned when he noticed she was already gone.

Alanna walked through the palace gate Calisto bobbing along beside her. She spotted him immediately. He was standing under a tree and talking to the boys and another Lady.

"Calan," she shrieked running towards the Stallion.

He turned just as she flung her arms around him, stumbled slightly than returned her embrace fiercely, laughing slightly. She let go and grinned up at him.

"Missed you," she said.

"Please. You are such a liar," Calisto had arrived. "You haven't missed him at all. You've even found a trainer to replace him."

"You have," Calan looked offended.

"I haven't," Alanna said earnestly.

Calan turned and made a face at Calisto. Calisto wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue back out at him. Then they both grinned and hugged.

"I've missed you, I haven't had anyone to insult," Calisto said pretending to wipe away tears.

Calan clutched his heart, "And I haven't had anyone to insult me."

"The love," Alanna mock sighed.

Thom cleared his throat, "Would you care to explain how you know this man?"

"Um…I'd rather not," Alanna smiled and turned away from her brother quickly.

"Allow me." Calan said graciously, "I am Calan DiNir, Shang Warrior. Alanna and I met when she got into a spot of trouble in the city outside the convent once. I often have business at the convent and over the years we have gotten to know each other. I've helped her to learn archery, a very Lady like pastime that can also come in handy, don't you agree?"

"Yes, I am the image of lady like behaviour" Alanna sighed.

Calan smiled then frowned, "Is it me or have you got shorter?"

Alanna glowered and said something a sailor would have blushed at. Thom, Raoul, Jonathan and Gary gasped but the other Lady laughed. Alanna looked at them sheepishly.

"Sorry," she whispered.

The words just seemed to come naturally when she was with Calan. She looked curiously at the Lady who hadn't gasped. She seemed all right. Any other lady of the court would have fainted. She had long dark hair and a tan. She definitely wasn't from the palace or even Tortall. Calan caught her gaze and smiled.

"This is Princess Thayet," he introduced her. "Thayet this is Alanna and Calisto, the banes of all society."

Princess Thayet smiled at them shyly.

Alanna and Calisto bowed, grinning. "In the name of all that is unholy we greet you."

"Alanna could I have a word with you?" Calan asked.

"Okay," Alanna said slowly and followed him out of earshot of the others.

"Alanna I need you to do me a favour,"

"Ugh," Alanna groaned.

"I'm going to see the King for a bit and while I'm with him I need you to take care of Thayet," Calan said.

"Why?" Alanna asked.

"If she wants to she'll tell you herself," Calan said and walked away. Waving to Calisto as he passed her.

Alanna rejoined the boys, Calisto and Thayet. Thom was deep in conversation with Thayet; Calisto was staring at them weirdly and Raoul and Gary were snickering at Jonathan who was staring at Thayet with a strange expression in his eyes and his mouth wide open. Alanna walked over to Calisto, nudged her and pointed to Jonathan. They both grinned and Calisto conjured a fly. It buzzed loudly and flew straight into Jonathan's mouth. He made a chocking sound and all attention turned to him.

"Jonathan are you okay you look a bit…green," Alanna asked feigning concern.

Jonathan's face turned from green to red in an instant and he turned and hurriedly walked away. Thom glared at them.

"That was horrid," he scolded.

"It's not our fault," Alanna whined.

"He always leaves himself open to torture," Calisto whimpered.

"You understand our predicament?" Alanna asked, turning to Thayet.

"Sort of," Thayet smiled uncertainly. She had a peculiar accent.

Thom sighed muttered something about women and walked away in the direction Jonathan had gone. Raoul and Gary gave them apologetic looks and followed. Silence descended over the three of them.

"We were thinking of going riding. Do you want to come?" Alanna said trying to break the silence.

"But…" Alanna placed her hand over Calisto's mouth before she could continue.

"You don't have to take me along if you don't want to, I'll be fine," Thayet said but she looked at the huge palace entrance with fear in her eyes.

Alanna frowned wasn't Thayet a princess? Shouldn't she be used to big, imposing palaces. She shrugged off the thought and smiled. Calan had a reason for asking her to take care of this girl.

"We don't mind at all," she smiled. "Come with us, you can pick a horse from the stables."

They walked in silence to the stables. Thayet sighed as she entered the stables and stared at the hoses in silent awe.

"I love horses," she whispered as if trying not to ruin the moment.    

They walked in. Alanna chose a strong black mare, Calisto a chestnut mare with a burgundy mane and Thayet a white stallion. The saddled their horses and walked them to the forest once they were out of eyeshot of the palace they stopped.

"Do you mind if I don't ride side saddle?" Alanna and Thayet asked at the same time and laughed.

The all remounted and guided their horses at a trot through the trees. Thayet stared at her surroundings curiously.

"I didn't think it was custom here for Ladies to ride normally," she said.

"It isn't," Alanna grinned.

"The queen would faint if she saw us," Calisto added mischievously.

"So why do you?" Thayet asked then added. "Ride normally I mean."

"It's uncomfortable riding side saddle," Alanna grimaced.

"You don't know how many bruises I've got from trying. The priestesses gave up on us after a while," Calisto sighed.

"Plus we don't do anything normally," Alanna added.

"I can tell," Thayet laughed.

Alanna and Calisto joined her. When they were finished Alanna spoke.

"Excuse me for asking but when did you start riding?" Alanna asked. "You're very good," she said appreciatively.

"I've been riding since I was a child," Thayet answered.

"And you don't have to answer this next question if you don't want to but why do you need protecting?" Alanna didn't look at Thayet in case she had offended her.

Thayet was silent for a while then she finally spoke, softly as if what she said pained her.

"You have realised by now that I'm not from Tortall. In my country there was no peace for my people. Kalasin, my mother, was the most beautiful woman in the world she was…amazing," Thayet eyes brimmed with tears but she quickly brushed them away. "My mother asked the Jin Wilima, my father, to deal fairly with the K'mir, they are my people and were hers. Lowlanders steal, take us as slaves and steal our horses," Thayet continued fiercely. "Jin Wilima hates us- he's a lowlander completely. He tried to dictate us by signing laws forbidding us to meet in groups of more than five people at a time. There are more than _thirty_ people in the Hau MA clan, and they are our smallest! How could we honour the dead or a marriage or a birth if the clan is forbidden to meet?" Thayet stopped.

"Go on," Alanna urged, transfixed by her powerful words.

But when Thayet began again her voice was not that of a fierce princess fighting for her people but a haunted lost child.

"What my mother did was a great thing…but it hurts to remember. My mother and I tried to make the Warlord stop. We even _pleaded_- a K'mir never begs! But he still signed the law." Thayet sighed. "My mother knew what she had to do. She sent me far away. Two of the people who served my mother kept the guards from breaking into my mothers tower room. She stood at her window and sang her death chant, about Jin Wilima's laws. A crowd was there to witness: nobles, commonborn and slaves. The two loyal servants who held the door were killed, but they held the door until it was too late for the Warlord's men to stop her from jumping. The servants are buried at my mothers right and left hands. When the Warlord dies he will lie in his tomb alone," she ended with that promise and was silent.

Alanna and Calisto stayed silent. They did not wish to disturb the peace that descended upon them at the end of Thayet's speech.

"I'm sorry if I put you to any difficulty by needing your protection but I still wish to be your friend," Thayet finally spoke.

Alanna and Calisto looked at each other silently agreeing.

"And we would be honoured to be yours," Alanna said humbled by Thayet's story which held such feeling.

They rode on in companionable silence.

{A/N Jin Wilima mean's Warlord so when Thayet talks about the Jin Wilima or the Warlord she is referring to her father. I think that Thayet is too upset with him to call him Dad or my father or something so she calls him by his title.

I **really **hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please R/R and tell me what you think.


	11. chap 11

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

{A/N I made two mistake in the last chapter.

1. I called the inn the Three Broomsticks. It was supposed to be part of a joke but I changed my mind and I forgot to change it back.

2. The part of Chapter 10 where Thayet explains her past was largely paraphrased from the third book in the Alanna series. I completely forgot to cite that at the end of the chapter. It was unintentional and I did not mean to pass it of as my own work at all.

I also forgot the number of chapters I'd written. There are thirteen not twelve like I've been saying. I completely forgot about it until I looked at the folder my story is saved in. Further proof that I am clueless as well as plotless.

vera: it was horrid? What was horrid? Is scared

Kore Yan: thanks, of course I'll continue

maria: You're right, Tristan is very stony and prim and proper and Alanna is completely opposite as she will prove in this chapter. Maybe he'll be appalled by her behavior…maybe opposites attract! Wait and see.

aznchicki: Alanna's not necessarily going to end up with Tristan.

reader: yeah, I don't like the first chapter much either, I'm glad you think I improved. Lady Leah of Chaos: Boy, you're really good at picking up errors. Thanks for pointing them out.

Blue-forget-me-not: In the original story Thayet, Buri and some random kids leave her country and meet up with Alanna and Liam by accident who then decide to help them. In my fic Calan is the one who meets up with Thayet, takes pity on her and tries to keep her safe

AJ 4EVA: thank you!

Alannawannabee: I'm keeping quiet about the pairing, only three chapters till you find out.

PhyscoLioness13: thanks for the compliment

Tenshichild: I know the George of the Jungle joke was bad. So was the Thom, Dick and Harry one. I can't seem to help myself.

imogenhm: Thanks for the correction!

Chapter Eleven

Alanna jerked awake when she heard her room door slam open. She looked around her suspiciously. Sunlight streamed through the curtain over her window. Calan, looking like the cat that caught the rat, stood in the doorway.

"How can you be sleeping, it's the middle of the afternoon?" he asked cheerfully. 

Alanna moaned and tried to bury herself deeper under the blankets. They were, unfairly, ripped of the bed by Calan. She curled up into a tiny ball and tried to go back to sleep but something hit her in the face.

She sat up glaring, "Ok, ok. I'm up. We can train," Alanna said grumpily.

She swung her legs of the bed and sat up. She stared briefly at the material that had hit her in the face. A dress.

"Put that on," Calan said pointing to the dress.

"Ah…what sort of training are we doing?" Alanna raised her eyebrows but the affect was ruined when she yawned.

"Special training," Calan said grinning.

"Special training?" Alanna squeaked. The only thing that made Calan this happy was torturing her.

"Yes," he grew serious suddenly. "I have a feeling there's going to be an attack at the ball tonight. Thayet's welcoming ball."

"Thayet's father?" Alanna asked.

Calan nodded, "The palace defences are going to be down because of the ball tonight."

"Wouldn't attacking the palace of Tortall be an act of war?"

"I'm betting that the Warlord will have hired mercenaries who cannot be traced back to him. And if they are he will say that he has the right to retrieve a daughter from people who allowed her to stay with them when he had expressly forbidden it.  He'll probably tell the King and Queen that they're lucky he doesn't treat her presence here as an act of war against Scanra. I need your help tonight."

"I'll be ready," Alanna said grimly.

Calan nodded again, turned and left. Alanna sighed. It was going to be an interesting night.

Alanna appraised the hall. Calan beside her was deep in conversation with Thom but she could see his eyes flicking around the room. Calisto on her other side was laughing about something with Thayet but Alanna could feel her gift simmering just below her skin. Raoul, Gary and Jonathan were across from her and from the way Jonathan kept blushing and his eyes kept wandering over to Thayet the trio were talking about her. Alanna turned her gaze back to the hall. They were standing off to the side of the thrones, on which the King and Queen sat, and from their vantage point Alanna could see almost every corner of the room. Across the room was the staircase you descended to enter. On either the sides of the room were two other, longer staircases that led to a balcony that ran right around the room from which you could look down on the dancers below. Windows were set high on the walls above the balcony. The hall was vast and decorated in gold and blue, the royal colours. She sighed when she noticed that the guards positioned around the room were more interested in flirting with the Ladies. Although Alanna knew that the guards would defend the King to the end she wasn't sure if they could prevent people entering the palace. George had taught her to think like a thief and any thief could easily see the many ways to break into the hall.                 

"You okay?" Calan whispered in her ear so the others didn't hear.

"Fine," Alanna tried to smile encouragingly but she had a feeling it came out more as a grimace because Calan frowned at her before he turned back to the rest of the group. The truth was that she was really nervous. If they were going to be attacked like Calan said, she'd have to reveal her fighting skills to everyone present in this hall. She wasn't sure she was ready to have her brother know, let alone the whole court. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of glass shattering followed by arrows raining down on the dance floor. The enemy had used the windows above the balcony to break into the great hall. Alanna sighed, banishing her ball gown, so that she was only wearing the britches and shirt she'd put on underneath. She didn't need to worry about shoes or weapons. Her gown had been long enough to hide her boots and she had carefully strapped her weapons to herself under the gown before leaving, their weight was comforting. She closed her eyes knowing she was finally showing people who she really was.

"Calisto take Thayet and Jonathan and go," Calan barked. "Raoul, Gary, Thom get the Ladies out of here. Alanna you've got the archers on the balcony." It seemed that the others were too caught up in the heat of the moment to ask why Alanna was armed and how she was going to take care of the archers. Jonathan in particular was too busy arguing with Calan.

"I'm staying to fight," Jonathan said stubbornly.

"Fine, you can come with me. Calisto, the King and Queen. Go!" Calan screamed and ran off Jonathan right behind him.

Alanna sprinted across the room, to the stairs leading up to the balcony, dodging frantic Ladies and stray arrows on the way. She bounded up the stairs taking them two at a time. She turned at the top to quickly survey the scene before her. Besides the archers there were also men descending to the dance floor on ropes attached to the balcony's rail. Thom, Raoul and Gary were holding up against them and some of the other Lords had jumped into the fray. Calisto, who had got Thayet to the King and Queen in time, had set up a shield around the area of the throne warding of the still oncoming flow of arrows. Alanna wondered how long she would hold up even with Jonathan and Calan defending the shield against an on foot attack. She'd better help her out, Alanna thought turning and grinning maliciously at the nearest archer. Maybe this was going to be fun. She started towards the unsuspecting archer. The balcony was high up and shadowed so there wasn't any chance that people would see her. Was that the reason she'd been chosen her for this mission? If she was lucky she could leave the hall the same way as the enemy entered and none of the court would have even noticed her in the fray.

Alanna stood above the kneeling form the nearest archer who looked up puzzled when she blocked his light.

"What are you doing up here?" the archer asked furiously.

"Looking for the bathroom. Do you know where it is?" Alanna asked innocently, loving the look of bewilderment on his face. "I'm new here."

"I…" the man trailed of, staring.

"It isn't polite to stare at a Lady," she said frowning. "And should you be shooting at people? It's very rude."

She reached down, took hold of the bow and arrow and wrenched them out of the archers grip, "There. Much better!" she said brightly.

The man's face twisted in anger and he launched himself at Alanna. She expertly dodged his flailing arms and spun kicking up and around. The man landed heavily on the floor and she kicked at his head as hard as she could. She smiled to herself; he wouldn't be up for a while. By then the other archers, ten of them in total, had noticed her and were advancing. Their bows and arrows lay discarded on the floor. They didn't look too pleased.

"I'm guessing you don't like me," Alanna said as if the thought pained her. "I was just trying to teach him good manners."

The biggest of the lot growled and ran at her. Alanna sidestepped and waited for his next move. The others didn't attack. They seemed to think the big hairy one fighting her now needed no help. She reached behind her back and surreptitiously removed the dagger from the belt around her waist. She held it behind her back where the archer who now faced her wouldn't see it. He charged and she again sidestepped stabbing him in the back in the same movement. The man crumpled to the floor. The rest of the archers seemed to finally realise that they shouldn't underestimate her for they all attacked at once. She bent, pulled her knives from her boots and straightened up just in time to step back from an attack while simultaneously throwing one of the knives at the man behind her immediate attacker. He fell heavily knife embedded in his throat. At this point the man at the head of the attack deemed it time to get out weapons. He removed a sword and the men behind him followed. Alanna smiled nastily and eyed the blades with unconcerned interest. She saw the men hesitate and struck. She kicked the sword from the hand of the man closest to her and caught it in her free hand. The archer behind the man closest to her stepped forward and kicked out. Surprised, Alanna didn't step back in time and the blow caught her on her side. She stumbled, quickly regained her balance and thrust the sword into the man's abdomen. Never underestimate your opponent; you're living proof of that, she berated herself. The men circled her. She turned her head slightly and memorised the positions of every man. There were two men on either side of her. She jumped kicking out on both sides, spun while still airborne and threw the knife still in her hand as she landed. Three of the seven remaining men fell. Before the men still standing could react she flipped backwards onto the banister.  The tallest man charged and she stepped to the side and helped him over the banister with a kick. He landed on the floor below with a splat.

Alanna swept her eyes quickly over the hall. Calisto was holding on. Calan and Jonathan were still defending her shield and Raoul, Gary, and Thom had managed to clear the hall of all Ladies. She smiled. They were winning. She turned back to fight the Three remaining archers. They had their bows in hand again.

"Aim for the witch. She's got a shield around the royals!" Someone below shouted.

Alanna spun around head swivelling in the direction the shout had come just in time to see the dagger leave the man's hand. She followed its path across the hall her heart filling with dread. She didn't even notice the arrows that flew past her but landed short of the shield. No, not Calisto…please not Calisto her mind screamed frantically. Her eyes left the dagger and met those of her friend. She knew even though Calisto could protect herself with magic she would keep the shield up to the end.

"No!" she heard a familiar voice scream but couldn't turn her eyes from Calisto.

Calisto had been her only salvation at the convent. Calisto had kept her sane, with her own special brand of insanity. She could feel tears trailing down her cheeks. The dagger was inches from Calisto and was about to hit her when Thom jumped in the way. The dagger imbedded itself in his shoulder. Alanna stared. Relief that Calisto hadn't been hurt flooded through her. Followed by a paralysing dread. Thom. No. It couldn't be. She jumped down from the banister, ignoring the jarring pain as she hit the floor. She made her way blindly over to Thom. He was held on Calisto's lap. She stared at the blood unseeingly. It couldn't be blood. It was…something else.

Thom's eyes met hers, "Sorry…I know you said you wanted to die first," his eyes shut. His breathing became shallower.

Alanna turned. A rage like nothing she had ever felt before was sweeping over her. Her eyes locked onto the triumphant smirk of the man who had thrown the dagger. It registered in her mind that since he ordered the attack on Calisto he must be the leader and that meant everything that had happened was his fault. She felt a restraining hand on her shoulder but she heated her skin with her gift the hand quickly pulled away. She grabbed a sword from the belt of the nearest Lord. She walked slowly towards the man. Her brother's killer. The Lords around her moved aside and if they didn't she pushed them out of the way. She watched in satisfaction as the triumphant smirk vanished from the man's face. He was a simple killer. He didn't deserve to live. He caused pain. He had to die. How dare he come here and attack her friends, her family? Her mind briefly remembered one of the lesson's Calan had taught her. Never let your emotions cloud your judgement. She pushed the thought away. She was standing in front of the man now. He looked to the men at his sides but they backed away. He glared and drew his sword. Alanna stood waiting. He lunged, bringing the sword down in a sweeping arc. Alanna raised her sword and effortlessly countered his attack. The man raised his sword again. Alanna pushed it aside and stepped forward. The man retreated and she continued her onslaught. Alanna paused for a second to catch her breath and he brought his sword up and around. She raised her sword to deflect his attack but the tip still caught her shoulder, tearing the material of her shirt and biting into her flesh.  She winced as blood began to spill from the wound. She was filled with a pure, heartless rage and continued her assault. Her moves flowed into each other. The man retreated further, looking panicked. He had cut her. How dare he? He was the wrong doer here but he had the audacity to draw her blood. She let out a feral scream and leaped forward driving the sword into the man's stomach.

"Never…" Alanna growled and pushed the sword in further. "Never touch my friends."

She let go of the hilt. The man stumbled back, eyes wide and fell. There was a clatter as his sword hit the floor after him.

She looked up. The rest of the archers and fighters had shimmied up their ropes and disappeared. The hall was in complete disarray and everyone was standing in shocked silence. The Ladies had re-entered the hall and they were staring at her with apparent disgust and hostility and the Lords just looked stunned that a Lady could do what they could do. Jonathan, Gary and Raoul looked surprised, Thayet seemed pleased and Calan was looking at her with apparent satisfaction. Calisto didn't seem to know what was going on as she was still bent over Thom.  Alanna spun around and came face to face with Tristan. She stared at his shocked face for a split second before turning on her heel and exiting the room, head held high.

Calisto sat on a chair in Thom's room, waiting. Raoul and Gary had carried Thom here, on her order, after they'd finished gawking at Alanna. Calan had stayed behind to clear the hall and get the King and Queen back to their rooms. Jonathan had taken Thayet back to her room. Calisto had managed to stop Thom losing too much blood before she fully healed his wound. Now all she could do was wait for him to regain consciousness. Calisto stood up and began to pace. She hated waiting.

She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned. Thom stirred and opened his eyes. Calisto rushed to his bed.

"What? Where am I?" Thom looked up at her confused.

"You're in your room. Raoul and Gary carried you here after you were hit," Calisto smiled, relieved that Thom was awake. "How are you feeling?"

Thom groaned and Calisto helped him into a sitting position before sitting down on the bed facing him.

"Terrible," Thom said, wincing.

"That's understandable," she grinned.

"Nice to know you delight in my pain," Thom said examining his bandage critically.

"Do you want to take the bandage of and see if the stitches are done perfectly too?" Calisto asked rolling her eyes.

Thom blushed, "Sorry. Habit."

"Um…Thom, there's something I want to know." Calisto looked down at the floor nervously.

They sat next to one another in silence for a while before Thom prompted her, "Yes?"

"Uh…I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"Never mind, its silly, I should let you rest." Calisto moved as if to get of the bed.

"Wait!" Thom grabbed Calisto's hand to stop her from leaving, "Its obviously important if it's got you this nervous."

"Why did you jump in front of me, Thom?" Calisto asked looking into Thom's eyes steadily although her voice wavered a little.

"Uh…well," Thom cleared his throat. "Maybe because I realised I was wrong about something."

Calisto frowned and nodded for him to continue.

Thom met Calisto's gaze, "You know when I said you were like a sister to me. I've been thinking that maybe I was mistaken."

"What do you mean?" Calisto narrowed her eyes.

"Don't get me wrong, I do care about you…but you're not like a sister to me," Thom blushed a deep red.

"What am I then?" Calisto asked grinning.

"You're making this difficult on purpose," Thom groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

"Maybe," Calisto's grin widened.

Thom opened his eyes slightly, grabbed Calisto around the waist and pulled her down until their faces were inches apart. "You're nothing like a sister to me because wanting to do this to my sister would be sick," he whispered and pulled her closer so that their lips met.

Once the ballroom was far behind Alanna she broke into a run. She ran blindly. Vaguely aware of corridors then the open air on her face and stars up above. She ran for a long time before she stopped outside a door. She opened the door and entered a room. She looked around. Light and noise hurt her senses. People stared but not the person she wanted. She walked through the room. Another door. She went through. This room was darker. He stood in the centre facing away from her.

"I heard you stomping around from a mile away. Haven't I thought you how to tread softly and silently. Like a thief," he said. She heard the smile in his voice. "What can I…?" he turned and trailed of.

"Alanna?" he asked stepping forward. She knew he'd be here. He always knew what to do. He always knew how to help. Tears slipped noiselessly from her eyes and trailed freely down her cheeks. He stepped forward again, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around her.

{A/N My sister did the fighting scene. She does Karate, so she knows what she's talking about more than I would. Was that scene well-written? Could you picture in your minds what was described or did it not make sense? We'd both like to hear what you think.

And I'm sorry but I'm not good at the romantic scenes. I tried but all my descriptions of the kiss between Calisto and Thom came out badly, so you'll have to use your imaginations :P}


	12. chap12

GETTING UNHITCHED

I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

I made another mistake last week. Thayet comes from Sarain not Scanra. Like I say at the beginning of the chapters, I don't own the books but  thanks for pointing mistakes out. I appreciate it.

aznchicki: More Calisto and Thom this week, although not much making out. Sorry!

Alannawannabe: well, there isn't too much of the story left. So you'll probably figure out most of the pairings in this chapter.

WhiteTiger-82087 (kia): Thanks. I like Calan too, a lot of the scenes with him are still in my head and never made it into the story. But he's very cool.

PhyscoLioness: Thanks for the advice about the paragraph lengths. I'll keep it in mind. You've done fencing? I'm so jealous!

Kore Yan : Here's the update you asked for

Rubber Duck: Calan is in his late thirties. If I called him a 'boy' it must have been a mistake, something I left in from a first draft. When I first wrote him, he was around nineteen. But then I decided he would be the one who helped train her and that he should be older.

MangoSam: I told my sis you liked the fighting scene. She says thanks.

SodaPop33: Thanks for pointing out the mistake.

maria: best chapter ever? Really? Thank you!

Emikae: Thanks for the review.

Lady Leah of Chaos: Well…I can imagine a "luv scene" :P But I'm too embarrassed to write it out…or show it to anyone if I did!

Tenshichild: The romance is very, very tame. And when it's not tame its corny…that's why I put it of as long as possible. Imagine the horror I would go through if I got the characters together in the middle of the story! I'd much rather end with a kiss. An of screen kiss, so I don't have to describe it!

imogenhm: Alanna doesn't kick too much ass in this chapter. Unfortunately. She's got a lot to think about.

Chapter 12

Alanna sat up groggily. Her head was pounding and her eyes were scratchy as if she'd just spent the whole night crying. She flung of the covers and swung her legs over the side of her bed…no, not _her_ bed. She glanced around her. Not her room either; she looked down at herself, those definitely were _not_ her clothes. Alanna gulped, she was in a strange room, lying on a strange bed, wearing, not just any clothes, but a man's shirt. What had she done last night?

She got up and began to pace, wracking her foggy brain for an answer. There had been a ball last night. Screwing up her eyes, deep in thought she felt the blanks in her mind gradually fill. She leant against the wall and sank slowly to the floor. Remembering the previous night didn't improve her mood. She'd revealed one of her deepest, darkest secrets to a hall fill of people and cried like a baby about it. She remembered George sitting up with her, trying to decipher her ramblings. She must have fallen asleep on the couch because the rest was hazy. She vaguely remembered being carried up a flight of stairs and being laid on something soft, a hand caressing her cheek, but that was all. She'd been a mess and the fact that she'd let someone see her in such a state annoyed her beyond words.

Then her annoyance turned to grief as she remembered the worst thing that had happened last night. The worst thing that had happened to her in her _entire_ life.  Her brother was dead. For a moment it felt like Alanna had forgotten how to breathe. The world seemed to turn grey until she drew in a tortured breath. The colour returned and with it all the pain and when she exhaled a gasp escaped from her throat along with hopeless tears that streamed down her face.

She jumped to her feet at the sound of the door opening. George stood in the doorway with a tray in hand. He looked aghast at the sight of Alanna in tears and began to speak hurriedly, "First of all your brother's alive. Calisto managed to heal him, she sent a message here when she couldn't find you at the palace."

Alanna flopped back down on to the bed and put her head between her knees.

"Alanna!" George placed the tray on the table and hurried over to her, "are you okay?"

He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her back.

She looked up at him with and asked quietly in a voice raw with tear, "Could you repeat what you just said?"

A smile appeared on George's face as he rubbed her back comfortingly, "Your. Brother. Is. Alive."

"Oh thank the goddess!" Alanna exclaimed, "For a minute there…" an awkward silence filled the room.

Alanna's thoughts vacillated between relief at her brother's survival and horror at all the other things in her life that had gone wrong until an enticing smell reached her nose.

"Ooh, food!" she enthused all thoughts of brooding pushed immediately from her mind.

"Oh thank the goddess. We've got the real Alanna back," George laughed.

"Haven't been the most cheerful person lately, have I?"

"Don't worry. I've never pictured you as a morning person," George said leading her over to the table.

"I'm not usually," Alanna said already beginning to fill her plate.

They sat in silence while she gulped down her breakfast in a few mouthfuls.

"Um…George?" she asked as she reached for a pitcher of orange juice. 

"Yes?" he glanced up from ruffling through some papers.

"I…" she began but came to an abrupt halt when George jumped up and knocked the pitcher out of her hand.

She opened her mouth about to protest but instead stared in horror as the juice began to eat a hole through the floor.

"Orange juice is NOT supposed to do that! What…? How…? Why…?" Alanna grappled for the right words stunned.

"To answer your questions. That wasn't meant for you, but for me. I don't exactly know what that was. It was probably Cole again."

"Still trying to kill you, huh?" Alanna asked remembering George's explanation that someone could only become King of Thieves once they had killed the previous king.

"Hasn't gotten me yet," George answered proudly.

"How'd you know about…?" Alanna gestured at the hole.

"I never have orange juice in the morning…awful stuff," George grimaced. "The stupid bugger is going to have to try a lot harder if he wants to win my crown" George said grimly. "What were you going to tell me before?"

"Uh…well…about last night…" Alanna squirmed uncomfortably.

"Whatever was said or done stays between us," George said seriously.

Alanna grinned, "Thank you."

"No problem," George grinned back, "Now get changed. I'll meet you down stairs in a minute." He got up and left the room.  

Alanna found her clothes laid out on a chair and dressed quickly then made her way down the stairs and into the inn's pub. She seated herself at a table across from George.

"What are you going to do now?" George asked.

"I'm going to have to go and face my fears," Alanna replied with a roll of her eyes.

"The famous Alanna scared of some rich folk," George said teasingly.

"Well, there's the brother whose going lecture me, the father whose going to disown me when he finds out exactly how I've been spending my free time, the Ladies who will ostracise me, the Lords who will mock me and the King and Queen who will probably ban me from court forever."

"Aren't you forgetting the suitor who requires an answer to his proposal?"

"I have a feeling that Tristan isn't so keen to marry me now that he's seen me in action." Alanna said remembering Tristan's shocked face at the ball.

"I thought you said he didn't mind your fighting?" George asked.

"He said he didn't mind in theory…but in practise. And I'm sure he meant for me to fight in heavy, body concealing armour that renders the wearer unrecognisable, not to put on displays for all the nobles at the Palace!"

"Disappointed?" George asked

Alanna pulled a face in reply.

George laughed, "Good luck then."

"I should go now before the whole castle wakes up. Minions of the devil are always especially hungry in the morning," Alanna sighed and got up.

"I would think the devil's minions didn't sleep," George raised an eyebrow at her.

 She glared and made her way out of the inn and through the almost deserted streets of the city.

The castle loomed above her. It seemed suddenly forbidding as if aware of her scandalous behaviour. She scaled the wall and jumped into the garden on the other side. The trees hid her from view as she made her way to the window of the passage nearest to her room. She hated that she was acting like a scared little kid, hiding from idiotic Ladies and Lords. She shouldn't care what they thought. She climbed silently through the window and landed easily on the other side. She tiptoed along hoping fervently that no one saw her. Luck was not on her side though as she turned the last corner before her room she came face to face with Tristan.

"Lovely show last night," he smirked.

"I'm so happy you enjoyed it," she snapped.

"It certainly was very impressive."

"Although not very lady like," she said the continued, "lets get straight to the point. You don't want to marry me anymore, do you?"

Tristan looked away for a few moments then met her eyes.

"Honestly, I think I overestimated my indifference to societies opinion. I find that I do care what people will say of the woman I marry, but I've made the offer already and if you wish to marry me, I'm sure we could work around this."

"I don't want to marry someone who feels forced to do so."

"Come Alanna, I was honest about how I felt about marrying you."

"Fine!" Alanna capitulated, "I just plain don't want to marry you. I'm glad this happened so that I could let you down easy."

"No hard feelings?"

"None."

"I'll tell your father that I called off the wedding and the decision was not based on any indiscretion on your part, as we agreed," Tristan said.

"After he hears about last night's ball, I doubt he'll believe you," Alanna said with a smile.

As she turned to walk away she heard Tristan call out, "Goodbye Alanna."

"Goodbye Tristan, and don't give up on the Ladies at court yet, they aren't all completely hopeless," Alanna called over her shoulder and continued down the passage.

Relief washed over her as her hand gripped the handle of her bedroom door. She stepped into her room and collapsed on her bed. Staring up at the ceiling morosely she realized that sooner or later she was going to have to face the world. She couldn't hide in her room and sneak around the palace for the rest of her life no matter how much that option appealed to her. There was always the other option. The one she'd been thinking of since she was young. She could run away and go on adventures; forget about Lady Alanna of Trebond. She was just imagining what it would be like to be free to wear and do and say anything she wanted when her door creaked open. Sitting up she stared at Thom and Calisto who were hovering in the doorway looking nervous.

"You can come in you know," Alanna pointed out as she lay back down.

"How're you feeling?" Thom asked.

Alanna smiled, "I should be asking you that."

"Um…Calisto told me what happened last night," he went on nervously.

"Oh," Alanna closed her eyes and waited for his lecture.

"Thank you…for defending me I mean."

Alanna sat up straight and stared at her brother, "You mean you aren't angry because I soiled the family name."

"Please. I did that when I first started training to become a knight," Thom grinned.

Alanna grinned back, "You're an ok brother after all."

"Just ok," Thom frowned.

Alanna laughed, "Well maybe more than ok."

Calisto cleared her throat, "Um…Alanna, I need to ask you something."

Alanna frowned, "Yes?"

"Well…you know we made that pact back at the convent," Calisto wrung her hands.

Alanna smiled as she noticed how close Thom and Calisto were standing, "Yes I remember."

"What would be a good reason to break it?" Calisto stared at Alanna, biting her lip and waiting anxiously for her answer.

Alanna pretended to think, "If your parents forced you to marry someone and… um…yes, that's all."

"Oh," Calisto looked down at the floor disappointed.

"Hold on. There is another one but no it will never happen," Alanna turned away.

"What is it? Tell!" Calisto demanded childishly.

"I guess you could break the pact if…your friends brother asked nicely," Alanna looked at Thom expectantly.

He blushed and cleared his throat, "Can Calisto break the pact?" he said through clenched teeth.

"No, there's one other condition," Alanna grinned.

"What is it?" Thom asked irritably.

"You have to name your first child Hasufel," Alanna looked at them expectantly.

"Never," Thom gasped.

"It's a nice name," Alanna protested.

"For a horse!" Calisto said indignantly.

"You're marrying Thom. What do you think your children will look like?" Alanna huffed.

"Alanna!" Thom said menacingly.

"Fine. Give your children nice common names," Alanna sulked. "See if I come to your wedding."

"You're evil," Calisto stuck out her tongue.

"You coming to breakfast?" Thom asked tentatively.

Alanna nodded, "No better time that the present to face your foe."

Alanna walked into the dining hall with Thom and Calisto and winced inwardly when all conversation died. As she had expected there were looks of disgust on the faces of many of the Lords and Ladies. She was completely surprised however, when Patricia stood up and began clapping, she was soon joined by Thom and Calisto as well as quite a few members of the court. Some of the squires even started cheering and whistling with looks of admiration on their faces.

Alanna stood momentarily shocked at the reaction until Thom nudged her in the side. She curtsied quickly and dropped down into her chair.

Calisto was in the middle of her dramatic retelling of what had happened after Alanna left the ball when Raoul, Gary, Jonathan and Thayet arrived and sat down across from them to eat. Alanna grinned when she saw how close together Jonathan and Thayet sat.  Already full from her breakfast with George, Alanna sat back and let the conversation at the table drift over her.

She was astounded that the members of court hadn't chased her from their midst in disgrace. She had never expected applause and congratulations for what she had done. Admittedly it had only been a small portion of the court that had actually cheered but even that was a larger number than she had expected.  Perhaps there would be some way for her to stay at court and be accepted over time for who she really was.

Her musings were interrupted by a group of knights who had walked over to their table. Unsure what to expect Alanna looked up at them along with the rest of the table. Their leader turned to the boys and spoke loudly enough for the entire room, "Your Highness, Gary, Raoul, would you like to spar with us today? Oh, and you too Thom if you're feeling better, or are you feeling too weak again? Going to make your sister stand in for you? Trust the Trebonds to send a woman to do a mans job." He sneered. Jonathan moved as if to stand up. Alanna placed a hand on is arm, "Leave it Jonathan. They're not worth it."

She stood and left the room, silently fuming. Stupid, pig-headed, idiotic nobles and their evil, gossiping wives, she stormed internally. For a few moments she had been hopeful but now it was clear that she had no other choice. Her mind was made up. She'd had as much as she could take of being a Noble Woman. It was time she started making decisions. She'd gone to the convent because her father and her birth status required her to. She'd come here, to the castle, because the priestesses thought it was time for her to.  Now it was time for her to show the world her true self. Some of the court had accepted her when she had revealed her skills. Realising from the evidence before their own eyes that clearly a woman could fight and deserved respect for that. But others evidently needed more proof, a bigger shock to jolt them out of the preconceived notions of the way the world should be. Maybe if she went out into the world and did the great deeds she had always dreamed of they would all eventually be forced to accept her.

Alanna entered the Inn and walked over to his usual spot by the fire and plopped down in the chair opposite George.

"It was horrible," she complained sniffling. "Some of them seemed to be okay with me but others were mean and vindictive and Thom and Calisto said they were getting married and it was horrible."

"I think you already said the last one," George said and patted her shoulder consolingly. 

Alanna glared her fiercest glare, "The only good thing is that Tristan did ask me to call of the wedding."

"And you agreed?" George

"No, I said I wouldn't just to spite him," her voice oozed sarcasm.

George's eyes widened, "Of course I said yes," she said heatedly.

"Oh," George let out a sigh of relief. Alanna glared, "What? You're a very vindictive person."

She increased the intensity of her glare and slumped further down in her seat, arms folded over her chest.

"And a right moody person too," George muttered not exactly soft enough and received a vicious kick under the table.

They subsided into silence each inwardly cursing the person sitting across from them.

"So, what are you going to do now?" George asked finally running out of curses.

"Well, that's why I came here actually. I'm leaving." Alanna looked down at the table. It seemed more believable now that she'd said it.

"Leaving?" George frowned

"Yes, I'm packing my bags getting on a horse and riding into the sunset on a great adventure like the heroes," Alanna grinned. She was really going.

"Oh," George's mouth tightened slightly. "What's that got to do with me?"

"Um…I was thinking. It wouldn't be proper for a Lady to just you know get up and go off all by her lonesome."

"I didn't know you cared about what was proper."

"Well, it would also be boring."

"And I'm supposed to find you a mate to take along?"

"No, I was actually wondering if you would come along,"

George looked up from his inspection of the table and there was regret in his eyes, "I can't Alanna. I'm King. I can't just pack up and leave my court whenever I want. They need me."

"Well, I need you too," Alanna said without thinking.

"I…I…" George sighed. "I can't," he said firmly.

They were silent for a long time each lost in there own thoughts.

"I understand," Alanna said finally. "Anyway I'll probably spend more time saving you than adventuring," she added trying to lighten the mood.

George laughed sadly, "That you would."

"I guess I'd better go it's getting dark and I'll need to wake early if I plan on leaving tomorrow," she got up and turned.

"I'll miss you lass," George said quietly.

"I'll miss you too George," she didn't turn around but continued to walk towards the door.

When she had left the inn George stood, "I really will miss you," he said again to himself.

{A/N don't hyperventilate! This is not the end!! Last chapter will go up next week Sunday…maybe earlier if I'm feeling nice.

Next week: Lots of farewells as Alanna plans to ride of into the sunset all by her lonesome.}


	13. chap 13

GETTING UNHITCHED

For the last time ever sniff I'd like to state for the record that I do not own a copy of the books. As such there are bound to be plenty of canonical errors (as well as all the other regular kind). Feel free to correct, shout or laugh at me. This is pure fluff, except when its not. Roger doesn't exist in this story.   
Hope you enjoy - plotless.   
Disclaimer : I do not own any of Tamora Piece's characters or settings. I just like to sneak into her toybox and play with them once in a while.

{A/N Here it is!! Last chapter!

I'm nervous and relieved. Nervous that you'll hate it, relieved that its over.

There weren't really any questions in the reviews so I'm just going to say Thank you to PhyschoLioness13, Mango Sam, Alannawannabee, Kore Yan, darkmoonlit, AJ4EVA, Blue-forget-me-not, Lady Leah of Chaos, Erkith, imogenhm, aznchicki, Tenshichild (I changed the ending, so definitely read this chapter again!)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially those of you who did so _every _chapter even to just say, "Write more!" Thanks to those who appreciated silently.}

Chapter 13

Alanna had intended to leave immediately. She had felt that if she spent one more day in the castle she would explode. She had procrastinated for years, torn between staying and going, and having a firmly made up mind was a profound relief. This didn't however make her departure any easier to accomplish. She was unexpectedly disappointed about George's decision not to come. She had asked him on the spur of the moment and as the question had left her mouth she had felt certain he wouldn't agree. But at the thought that George might come with her she had felt confident that she could have faced anything, and was surprised at the depths of her sadness at the prospect of not seeing him for a long time.

That setback hadn't stopped her from setting out at once to find Thom and Calisto. Unsurprisingly she found them together, sitting on the grass in the shade of a large oak tree. They smiled when they saw her and waved her over. Sitting down she noticed that they were holding her hands and smiled inwardly.

Knowing that the longer she procrastinated the harder it would be Alanna began to talk, "There's something I have to tell you."

"That sounds ominous," Thom said, "although I haven't heard screams coming from the Palace so perhaps you haven't done anything too awful."

"It's not something that I've done. It's something that I _want_ to do. Something I've wanted to do for my entire life."

"Dress in green from head to foot and Morris dance in the Great Hall?" Calisto put in.

"No!"

"Oh…I've always wanted to do that."

There was a pause as they all pictured Calisto dyed green and Morris dancing.

"I don't think green is really your colour," Thom said diplomatically.

"Can we get back to the point?" Alanna asked.

Taking a deep breath she continued, "My whole life I've wanted to be a Knight, to fight for the Kingdom, but I didn't grab my dreams when I was younger. And its not that the life I _have _led hasn't made me happy. I've made wonderful friends and learnt most of the things I would have if I had become a squire but there's always that part of me that knows I'm not following my heart's desire. I've realised now that I will never be content with my life at the Palace."

Thom and Calisto who had an idea were this conversation was leading were looking grave.

"I'm leaving," Alanna finished in a quiet but firm voice.

To Alanna's astonishment Calisto flung her arms around Alanna and burst into tears.

"Calisto?" Alanna asked uncertainly.

"I've always known that you'd leave eventually. There's something inside you that has to be free, and I want most of all for you to be happy. I'm not going to try to stop you, and if Thom tries to I'll curse him. It's just that we're about to become sisters for real. I wanted you here at the wedding."

"We are sisters already. In our hearts we always have been," Alanna said as she returned Calisto's hug.

"We're going to miss you more than we can say," Thom added and put his arms around both of them.

They sat for a while longer discussing the practicalities of her journey. True to form Calisto shamelessly used her tears to wring a promise out of Alanna to stay until Thom and Calisto were married.

3 weeks later

At first Calisto had tried to have an extended engagement using any excuse to postpone the wedding date. Eventually Alanna sat her down and tried to reason with her, although Calisto's decision to wait only a month to get married may have been helped along by the knife that Alanna kept stroking during their discussion. Now a week before the wedding and Alanna's departure she could not believe that the time had passed so fast. Both she and Calisto were excited, nervous, happy and scared although for very different reasons.

She had put the extra month to good use. Spending time with the few friends who knew she was leaving. Pouring over maps of faraway lands with Patricia in the library, plotting courses, trying to learn enough of the various dialects of other countries to get by and purchasing travelling rations and weapons. She had been lead to the stable early one morning by Calisto to find an unfamiliar horse that had a bow around its neck and a note from George

**_Thought you might need this. Name her yourself._**

****

**_You friendly neighbourhood thief_**

****

The horse, that she had named Maeryn was a tan mare. Alanna had fallen in love with her immediately and now spent a part of every day in the stable. On this particular day when she entered the stable she saw that she was not alone. Calan was in another stall saddling his stallion. From the amount of luggage he had with him she guessed he was leaving.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" Alanna enquired.

"I was about to come find you. I've already made my farewells to the others. And given my congratulations to the two couples."

"_Two _couples?"

Calan snorted, "Trust you not to know the biggest gossip in the palace. Jonathan asked Thayet to marry him. Now that she is about to become a Princess of Tortall any attempts on her life by the Sarainians would be considered an act of war. Which means that I don't have to protect her anymore and I can return to my wandering ways."

"That's great," Alanna enthused.

"If you want to come with me, you're welcome."

"Do you have to leave today?"

"Yes, I've urgent business in Carthak."

"I have to wait for the wedding and besides I think I'd like to strike out on my own for once in my life."

Having settled the saddle on the horses back Calan turned to Alanna and hugged her.

"You never know, we might meet up again," Calan said

"I'll see you when I see you," Alanna replied.

He mounted and rode out of the stable.

The day of the wedding dawned bright and beautiful. For the first time ever Alanna was glad to put on a dress. Calisto had of course picked a colour that made Alanna look terrible but she wore the orange monstrosity with a smile. Although the King and Queen had offered to hold the wedding in the great hall, Thom and Calisto declined. They had a quiet wedding in one of the smaller palace chapels with only close friends. There was an air of romance and mystery in the chapel that was lit only by candles, some enchanted globes Thom had conjured and strewn with flowers. Thayet the other bridesmaid, who somehow managed to look beautiful in the orange dress, Jonathan and Alanna stood with Thom as they waited for Calisto to enter. Alanna was close enough to hear Thom's indrawn breath when he first saw Calisto.

As they exchanged vows with a priestess officiating Alanna felt tears fill her eyes and she looked across the room hoping that they wouldn't be noticed. She saw a man standing in the shadowy recesses and when he looked up she recognised George. Except for the horse and the note she hadn't seen or heard from him since the day when she had asked him to accompany her on her journey. George nodded at her once and then towards Thom and Calisto and she turned in time to see them exchange a kiss. When she turned back George was gone.

The day of her departure did not dawn bright and beautiful. It was a cold, cloudy, rainy morning that was perfect for staying in bed with a book and a warm drink. Alanna got up determinedly and changed quickly. She was leaving an hour earlier than the time she had told her friends. They had exchanged their final words the night before at the Dancing Dove, a party that had for once been quiet and solemn. George hadn't even been there to liven things up. He had given her a quick hug before claiming urgent business elsewhere. She wrenched her thoughts from the hurt his lack of attention had caused her and concentrated on strapping on her weapons. She had forbidden her friends to see her off as tearful goodbyes from Calisto, Thayet, Patricia, the other Ladies and possibly Thom would be her undoing but she had a feeling they might ignore her request. She climbed out of the window instead of using the door for old times sake.

She only turned back once, when she was already on her horse, on a hill on the road outside the palace. It was only then that she saw that Thom and Calisto had enchanted the clouds above the palace to form the words, "Good Luck Alanna! We love you!"

Her friends had obviously seen through her ploy to leave unnoticed.

Standing on top of the Palace wall were Thom, Calisto, Gary, Raoul, Jonathan, Thayet, Patricia and even Tristan waving at her. And that was how Alanna started her adventure, with a heart filled with love and her laughter on the air.

Five miles down the road outside the city Alanna stopped. She had come to a crossroads. Both roads would eventually take her to the same destination but the journeys would be vastly different. A decision was made easier by a full stomach Alanna thought as she sat down in a nearby clearing.

She was observing the passers-by on the busy main road distractedly while she rested and ate when a familiar face rode past her at a mad gallop.

"George!" Alanna stood up and shouted after him.

George immediately pulled on the horse's reins and wheeled around swiftly coming towards her. He jumped of his horse, crossed the distance between them and grabbed her shoulders, "Thank the goddess that I found you," he exclaimed.

"Calm down George, is everything okay? Has someone been hurt? Why were you rushing about on that horse?"

"Rushing? Because I arrived at the castle to find that you decided to leave an hour early, you daft girl!"

"Well, it's not my fault you didn't say goodbye properly last night when I gave you the chance!" Alanna said a trifle angrily

"That's the thing lass…I'm not saying goodbye," George smiled down at her.

"What are you on about George?"

George bowed comically, "I am here to offer my services as travelling companion."

"What? Do you mean it? This is great! But…what about your court?"

"That's the business I had to take care of last night. Cole would never have been able to kill me. He's a good leader and a remarkable thief but the boy is the worst assassin I've ever seen!"

"How terrible for him," Alanna said sarcastically.

"Haven't you wondered why I've been so busy this last month? I've been putting my affairs in order and training Cole to succeed me. We faked my death last night. My court are mourning my death at the cemetery right now…and trying to pick the lock on my coffin to see if there's any valuable possessions in there with 'me'," George finished.

"You're not kidding! You really are coming with me?" Alanna grinned up at George.

"There is one condition though, lass,"

"Anything," Alanna declared.

"You might want to listen to the actual condition first." George said a seriously. Alanna smile faltered a little as she noticed George's sudden nervousness.

"Ask away."

"Well lass, the thing is…this is going to be harder than I thought."

"George, you can ask me anything, I'm just Alanna."

"You're not _just_ Alanna. You're brave, intelligent, witty, impetuous, sometimes infuriating, a brilliant fighter…a lioness at heart and…" George reached out and stroked Alanna's cheek and added softly, "…beautiful."

Alanna felt herself flush involuntarily and her eyes widened in confusion. Where was George going with this, she wondered.

"You're also a Lady but if you cared about the "proper thing" you wouldn't be going on this journey in the first place. That's why I'm hoping that you'll overlook the fact that I'm not a Noble and marry this humble thief."

Alanna's heart began to race as if to catch up with her frantic thoughts and the confusing tangle of her emotions. She remembered her first meeting with George in Delia's room, a heated look on the balcony, a drunken game of cards, a trust that grew stronger the longer she knew him, a knowledge that he would always stand at her back, a friendship that had grown into… love. Alanna didn't know when her feelings had changed but she now knew with certainly that they had.

She had fallen in love with a thief.

George, who was looking increasingly nervous at her continued silence, began to speak again, "Come on, lass. Don't make this any harder; it's difficult enough to ask an ordinary girl to marry you and risking the chance of being slapped. You're not an ordinary girl by any stretch of the imagination, that's why I love you so much that I'd leave everything behind to be with you but we both know that you can do an awful lot more than slap me an-,"

Whatever he had been about to say was lost, as Alanna's mouth had covered his. Her hands crept around his neck and his lowered to her waist. When they drew apart, George gazed down at Alanna in shock. She blushed and looked down. Seeing this George began to smile, "I take it that's a yes then."

{A/N If there're any A/J fans who were still holding thumbs. Sorry. I think most of you figured that it wouldn't be A/J by now, though. I've always been an Alanna/George fan, right from the first time I read the book.

The reason Patricia keeps on being mentioned in the last chapter even though she is a minor character is because I was going to write an extra scene in which Patricia and Tristan meet. But I got lazy, and I was too lazy to take her out of the scenes. Besides, few of you seem to really like Tristan anyway.

Anyway, tell me what you think. Was is a good ending? Too cheesy?

Thanks again for reading this far. I'm almost sad that this is all over.

plotless

I've written a Ron/Hermione short fic for those Ron/Hermione fic. I'll be putting it up next weekend on my livejournal (which is kind bare and boring right now, I've just started it, but I'd appreciate being friended by anyone who also has a journal.)

The address to my journal is on my profile page.


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